Fixing the Broken Girl
by 1000 Words To Be Said
Summary: I've been broken, and I can't be fixed! It's impossible! So why are you trying so hard to prove me wrong?" "Because I know you can be fixed if you'd let someone try." I looked at him to see determination. Then and there I knew he'd fix me. NarutoxOC R
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey Guys~! :D My other story has hit a road block (sorry to anyone who has actually read the prologue to my HP story...^_^' ), but my creative juices for this one have been flowing nicely. Hope ya really like this! Oh, and don't worry, this story won't be constantly in angst (don't know how I'd cope with a story that had nothing but angst. Can't read something without at least a bit of cheerfulness). It shall have its funny moments and awesome fight scenes and the like too. It will be sad for a bit though, at least until our leading woman gets some sense knocked into that noggin of hers! Which will hopefully be soon. :3

Disclaimer: Oh, how I despise thee...*sighs* I do not own Naruto or anything related to it. I merely own my OC whose name will be revealed probably next chapter and her family.

Enjoy, my lovelies~!

* * *

My chest burned and my legs ached with fatigue from running for so long, but I took no notice of it. My life meant more than being tired, and I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be safe to stop for a while. The ninja that were after me had no mercy, if any emotion at all. They had proven that when they murdered my family right in front of me, not acknowledging my cries.

The pain in my chest soon became unbearable for me, so I had to stop momentarily to catch my breath. I had never run like that. So desperately, so frightened… I had only now become aware of this sadness that clutched at my heart, a sadness that had made me feel so numb to everything until it had sunken in, until I had realized it was real. I would never again smell my mother's home made miso soup. I would never again hear my little brother's and sister's laughter as they played in the backyard. I would never again see my father's proud face as I mastered a jutsu.

My family was dead, and I couldn't do anything about it. They were gone, and as reality sunk in, I collapsed, now feeling horribly weak, and cried harder than I had when the Hokage died. He had broken me.

In the end, Orochimaru had done what he said he would. He had broken me.

Eventually, I could no longer find the strength to move, and so I laid down in a small clearing in the trees, some of the taller blades of grass tickling my tear-stained cheeks, my fiery locks splayed about. My amber eyes gazed blankly up at the sky that was a light blue. Clouds floated by, unaffected by the events of the previous night. I wish I were a cloud…then I'd have no worries, no regrets, no sadness. I smiled cruelly at the thought. I was not fortunate enough to be like a cloud, drifting where the wind took me, not endangering its loved ones. Of course, clouds didn't have loved ones; they were clouds.

Maybe it would have been better if I had been born a cloud. If I had, then maybe my family would still be alive and well. Maybe then I wouldn't be lying in this field, exhausted physically and emotionally, deep in a sadness so great, that not even news of the Third Hokage really being alive could cure it.

Those thoughts were the last that ran through my mind before darkness finally overtook me, though it was not merciful enough to allow me a dreamless sleep. My dreams were nightmares, filled with the horrors of my family's death, making me wish I had never fallen asleep.

I slowly began to wake up as I heard a soft rustling in the trees near by, but I was too tired to care what it was. If it was the men who had taken my family's lives, then I would allow them to take me. Maybe they would take me to Orochimaru, and then I could take my revenge upon him. Maybe then this aching in my chest would go away.

My mind was foggy with thoughts and images of a time that seemed to have happened just moments ago, when in reality, it had happened probably a day or two ago, so I took no notice of what was going on. However, I perked up when I heard footfalls coming closer towards me, and my heart beat quickened. What if it _was _Orochimaru's men?

I faintly registered voices speaking worriedly, figured they couldn't be Orochimaru's men if they were worried, and I could only assume that they were speaking about me. I mean, I probably looked horrible, covered in blood that was not mine, seemingly passed out in the middle of the forest; who _wouldn't_ be worried? Even if the voices were worried, they had no reason to be. Yes, I was wounded, but not in a way that would kill me quickly. Physically, I was perfectly fine besides being extremely tired and having a few scrapes here and there (courtesy of my rush to get away).

The feeling of arms wrapping around my weak body engulfed me and I temporarily lost myself in the comforting feeling of them. The feeling reminded me so much of my father's hugs, the hugs he gave me when he was proud, relieved, or simply welcoming me home. Hugs that I no longer could receive.

I cracked my eyes open just a little bit to catch a glance at who was carrying me, to see who reminded me of my father. It was a man who looked to be somewhere in his twenties with gravity-defying silver hair and sleepy eyes, which at the moment had a serious look about them. He wore a mask over the bottom part of his face, so I couldn't really tell much more about him, except that he was wearing a frown. I tried to open my mouth to speak, open my eyes further to glance about my surroundings, but I couldn't find the strength to do so. Instead, darkness overtook me once more, and this time I was granted the mercy of a dreamless sleep.

* * *

A/N: Sooooooo...How was it? Did ya like it? Hate it? Think it was totally awesometastic? Whatever your opinion, I'd love to hear it! And sorry if it was a bit corny. I tried my hardest to not make it corny, but I'm not sure I succeeded or not. Tell me in a review! ...Please? Also, any suggestions are appreciated! Until next time, my lovelies~!

1000WTBS


	2. Waking Up

A/N: Heeeeey guys! Sorry that it's been so very long! School, lost of interest, other pursuits, and numerous other things distracted me from writing fanfiction for a long time, and I'm sorry to have kept you guys waiting for a second chapter. It's a short chapter, but I promise I'll try to push myself to write more for this story. I wanted to give you guys a tidbit to hold you over for a little while. Hope you enjoy it!

P.S. Excuse any OOCness and errors; it's been a while since I've watched Naruto and I made this chapter late at night especially for you guys. Hope you like it~!

Disclaimer: I, 1000 Words To Be Said, in no way own any of the characters written about, save for Aya, her family, any other characters I conjure up, and any unrecognizable features.

* * *

The moment I blinked open my eyes I was blinded by bright light and a snow white ceiling. My body was stiff and ached from laying down for a long time, and I was momentarily confused as to where I was. I certainly wasn't in my room; I had painted a huge mural of a young couple's love story on my ceiling to give myself something happy and pretty to wake up to every morning. The smell of the room was alien to me as well, the scent weird, like that aroma you smell at a hospital. But why would I be at a hospital? I was in perfect health. I lifted my self up slowly, numerous pleasurable pops resounding in my hears as I stretched and glanced around the room, searching for a familiar face when I spotted someone.

He sat in the corner across from the foot of my bed, next to the wall with the wall-long window, reading an orange novel with a man chasing after a woman happily on the cover. I could barely make out a title. Icha Icha Paradise? I'd never heard of that one before. Shaking myself from my brief distraction, I examined the man's features, trying to place his face. His hair was silver and gravity defying, and he wore a mask over the bottom half of his face…

Then it all came rushing back.

The images of my family's murder, my running in the woods, the voices, the arms that held me like my father had… It was too much to take in at once and tears immediately started to pour out of my eyes and down my face. My shoulders trembled as I tried my best to keep my sobs silent, though I knew that the man had already stood up and made his way over to me because I could feel his hand now rubbing my back soothingly. I didn't know who he was, but I knew that he made me think of my dad, and that was all that mattered. I leaned into him until we were finally hugging, my tears soaking his jounin vest. We stayed like that until my cries were reduced to sniffles. I pulled away slowly, wiping my eyes with the back of hands, now feeling the hot embarrassment of crying and showing weakness to a complete stranger, even if he did remind me of my father.

He gave me a sympathetic look. "I'll be back soon. Will you be alright by yourself?"

I gave a nod, not trusting my voice not to break.

"If anyone asks where I've gone, tell them I've gone to see the Hokage. I'll send someone to keep you company."

I just nodded again and let him disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Had all this really happened? Did my family really die? Was I really the only one left? Had… Had he really won this time?

I shook my head, trying to sort out my thoughts. I had to figure out what to do next. I had what he wanted and he certainly wouldn't stop at killing my family to get it. He would start coming after me, and I was sure it wouldn't take him long to find out where I was. I had to -

My thoughts were interrupted as a boy burst into my room, nearly running himself into my bed, followed by a pink-haired girl and striking sea foam eyes and soon after her came a raven-haired boy who seemed like a loner. I stared in surprise at the trio as the girl yelled at the blonde for rushing into my room without thinking about the fact I may have wanted some privacy, only for the blonde to argue that, "Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have asked us to come to her room if he wanted her to be left alone!" The other boy simply watched, his eyes roaming over to me after a few seconds. I locked eyes with him before looking away, not in the mood for a stare down. Instead I coughed, attempting to get the other two's attention.

The blonde turned to me first, excitement glimmering in his eyes. "Hey there! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

I blinked. "Ayaka. Shizuka Ayaka. Nice to meet you."

That was my first encounter with the boy who would fix me.


	3. Questions For Aya

A/N: First off, sorry for the wait! Second, I'm sorry if any characters seem OOC, but like I said before, I haven't watched or read Naruto for quite a while. Third, I'm sorry if Aya seems like a Mary Sue. I try to make sure my characters don't turn out like that, but it happens sometimes. And that's about it. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Not a whole lot of Naruto, but that's to be expected since it's a beginning chapter. Enjoy~!

Disclaimer: I, in no way, own Naruto, or anything to do with the series. I do own, however, Aya and her family, along with her kekkai genkai which has yet to be revealed.

* * *

I do

It turned out that Kakashi-sensei was the man who reminded me of my father, and that the three genin that had rushed into my hospital room were his three-man team. He'd sent them to keep me company while he informed the Hokage (who I learned was Tsunade-sama, one of our best healers of our time) that I was now awake. The pink-haired kunoichi was Haruno Sakura, the loner was Uchiha Sasuke, and, of course, the hyper blonde was Uzumaki Naruto. It was awkward sitting in silence with the three, none of us really knowing what to say. I was certain they were burning to know why I was in the middle of the forest, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to approach that subject yet without breaking out into tears. The images kept replaying in my mind, over and over, and it took all of my self control not to start the waterworks in front of them.

Why did it have to be _me_ that Orochimaru wanted so badly? And how did he even find out about my family and me? No one was supposed to know about us, according to my father. Only a few select locals actually knew our location, and only village leaders were informed of our whereabouts and any movements we made or progress I made. No one else should have known, so how did that snake find out? Someone had to have told him. I couldn't help but feel anger towards whoever it was that told him, even though I knew Orochimaru had probably tortured the person to tell him.

"So… Shizuka-san?"

"Hmm?" I blinked at Sakura, distracted by my thoughts still.

"Shizuka... Isn't that a clan name? It used to be a small one in Konoha, right?"

I looked in surprise at her, not expecting her to know that. Just about no one remembered my clan due to the fact very few of us were left now. In fact, I could be the last Shizuka out there… The thought only proved to depress me further.

I cleared my throat. "Yes, Sakura-san, we were apart of Konoha once. There's a bunch of events that I'm fuzzy on, but we left because a lot of villagers began to fear us, or rather, our kekkai genkai. I'm not sure if there are any other members beside myself now." Just saying it aloud made my throat start to close up.

Sasuke glanced at me from his leaning position on the wall, clearly interested as to what that meant. Naruto tilted his head in curiosity as Sakura gave me a sad look.

"What's your kekkai genkai, Ayaka-chan?"

I was a little surprised by the informal way he spoke to me, but I honestly didn't mind. It was actually a little comforting. I was about to answer when two puffs of smoke appeared in the room, followed by Kakashi-sensei and the fifth Hokage.

"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, thank you for keeping Shizuka-san company, but I need you three to leave now."

"Aw, but Tsunade-baa-chan! She was gonna - "

"Now, Naruto." Tsunade's voice and gaze were sharp as she spoke to Naruto, obviously not in the mood to get into an argument with him. Naruto, now realizing the situation was much more serious than he originally thought, followed Sakura and Sasuke out of the door, still mumbling to himself.

I fidgeted with the bed sheets beneath my fingers, clutching and then letting them go, wrinkling and then smoothing them out. The Hokage's presence was intimidating and she made me nervous with the inevitable questioning ahead. I was still unsure of what was to come, or if this was all even real. Maybe I would wake up in a few seconds to the happy mural on my ceiling and the smell of my mother's fried eggs and rice. I even pinched myself, hoping harder than I ever had before that when I opened my eyes I would be in that secluded house that I had complained about so often. I was disappointed.

"Shizuka-san…" Tsunade began, sitting herself down in the chair next to my bed while Kakashi stood beside her, looking down at the ground. "I know this is going to be hard for you, but I need you to tell me what happened. The blood we found on you wasn't your's. You were miles away from your home, unconscious in the forest. I can only assume that you and your family were attacked, but I need you to be strong for us," she paused, setting a reassuring hand over my tight fist. "and tell us what you know."

It took me a good couple of minutes before I was even a little sure that I could hold myself together, but the Hokage and Kakashi-sensei didn't seem to mind one bit, which made the situation a little easier on me, though only a little.

"We were attacked, like you said. It began like any other day. I got up, ate breakfast that my mother cooked, trained with my dad for a few hours, helped my sister and brother with their training, and then goofed off with them for the rest of the day. It was probably around three or so when it all went wrong.

"I was outside with Kazuya and Kazumi. I was helping them with their cloning jutsu even though my dad wasn't pushing them to learn since they were still pretty young. They wanted to get better, though, so I mentored them. There was a crash in the house, so I told them to wait and I would go check it out; I was sure it was just my mom. We joked about her clumsiness all the time, so I assumed she had dropped a pan or something."

I paused, attempting to swallow the lump in my throat. The images were starting to replay in my mind. "But that wasn't the case, of course. There was a man in the house and my father was fighting him while my mother tried to fend off another. I... I'd rather not go into detail."

"Can you remember what they looked like?" I looked up at Kakashi-sensei.

"Um... My father was fighting this large man with orange-ish hair while my mother fought this other one with a twin attached to his back or something. It was really weird to see." The two elder ninja shared a look.

"Is there anything else you know that might help, Ayaka-chan?" Kakashi-sensei referred to me with the same familiarity Naruto did, but I didn't mind. I preferred it to "Shizuka-san."

I looked down at my feet that dangled off the side of the bed. "I know that they were followers of Orochimaru. They told me that much, and even if they hadn't, I would have figured it out. He... He's after me, my kekkai genkai, though it's not like I'm going to be willing to train it to the level he wants it at. I don't understand why he wants it so bad."

The two shared another look and Tsunade was the next to speak. "Thank you very much, Shizuka-san -"

"Please," I interrupted, looking at her with a polite smile. Might as well try to make it seem like I was doing okay. "Call me Ayaka. I'm not used to the formalities, and I feel more comfortable being called by my first name."

She nodded, brown eyes understanding. "Well, Ayaka, thank you. We'll probably have to talk with you some more later, but for now we will let you rest up."

"Okay, but, um..." I looked around nervously, uncertain if I really wanted to know the answer to my upcoming question. "What about my living arrangements? I know I can't simply go home, so will I be staying here? And will I be staying with someone?"

"Don't worry about that right now; just take it easy. I'm sure Hokage-sama will have that figured out in no time. Just give yourself some time to think and relax, okay?"

I blinked a few times at Kakashi-sensei's smiling face, or what I assumed was his smiling face, and nodded with a slight smile. He continued to smile beneath his mask, and the two ninja left the room. Kakashi-sensei reminded me of my father, but a nicer, gentler version of him. My father wouldn't have told me to "just take it easy." He would have thought it approproate for me to be concerned with my living arrangements and would have pushed me to find out. He was the sort of person who pushed me to my limit, and then past that limit during a simple training exercise. He didn't let me take a bunch of breaks, or if I was having a crappy training session, let me give it a rest and move on to something else for a bit. No, he pushed me until I could barely stand anymore, telling me that there are no breaks in real combat, and that if you're doing badly in a fight, you can't simply stop and move on and then come back. He wasn't an easy-going guy. He didn't smile a whole lot, and when he did it was usually because I finally got a jutsu down or completed some hard training. And he smiled at my mom. She was the only person who could get him to smile with ease-

Or she used to be. When they were alive.

I immediately became somber, and curled up on my hospital bed beneath the covers. I willed sleep to take over so I wouldn't start to think about everything that had happened. I didn't want to remember all the horrible things I saw. I didn't want these memories...

But sleep wouldn't come for a long time.

* * *

A/N: So~ what did ya think? Sorry that Ayaka is acting all depressed, but she's going to be that way for a bit (though I hate to make her sad all the time!). Tell me what you think by dropping a review... Please?

Shizuka: means 'Silence.' Meant to point that out last chapter. Sorry! I don't remember the meaning of Ayaka right now because I didn't pick it out for any special reason other than I like the name and it seemed to suit my dear little OC.

Till next time!

1000WTBS


	4. Memories She Wants To Forget

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for this update being way past overdue! I haven't had inspiration for a while and have been having a bit of a hectic life as of late. But now I have all summer vacation to get back into my groove! :D So perhaps I'll update more for these next two months~! If not, feel free to bash me over the head with any object you please. This is also a bit rough, quite possibly, because I just finished writing it at 12:32 in the morning, so sorry if anything is messed up. And sorry because one of the characters may be OOC, but I haven't watched the parts with her in it in a long time, so she may be off. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the update~! :3

PS: Sorry for the length! I just wanted to get _something _out to you guys.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.

* * *

"_OTOU-SAN!" I screamed in horror at the scene before me, hardly believing my eyes._

_My father, lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, was struggling to get up. He turned his head to me, yelling at me to get away, to run as fast as I could with my brother and sister. I hesitated._

_How could I just leave him there?_

_But my mother was there too, in much the same position as my father. "Listen to him, Ayaka. Go, now!" Her face was so serious, so different from the usual carefree mother I had become accustomed to. I didn't wait any longer and rushed away from our house to grab my siblings, only to find a woman playing an eerie song on her flute that seemed to paralyze Kazuya and Kazumi. Sensing my presence, she turned to me, never ceasing her playing. We locked eyes, and I took a fighting stance, ready to fight for my brother and sister. I wasn't about to lose them._

_She finally stopped playing, a smirk sprouting on her face as she glanced over at the two small children. Both were sobbing uncontrollably, calling out for me, Mother, and Father. I nearly began crying at the site of them, but I hardened myself. Showing weakness in front of an enemy was a bad idea. That had been the first rule my father had taught me as a shinobi._

_Everything happened so quickly… She badmouthed me, my family, calling Kazuya and Kazumi weak little brats that could never amount to anything, my father a fool for thinking Orochimaru couldn't find us, and my mother a ditz that didn't deserve to be a shinobi. I went to activate my kekkai genkai, to give me some advantage, when the crying suddenly stopped. Two thumps resounded around the area, causing the red-haired woman to roll her eyes and sigh._

_"Already dead? Gosh, they were weaker than I thought."_

_"Wha… What? No, no, they…"_

_She merely looked at me, smirking. "Can't be dead? Yes, they can be. My jutsu attacks the mind, but if you're an incredibly weak brat like those two, the mental and physical exertion from it could kill you. I expected them to last longer because of the clan they were apart of, but," I rushed over to them, shaking them, lightly slapping their faces, trying my hardest to wake them. They couldn't be gone! They couldn't be! We were just playing around! They were just teasing me about my flaming hair no one else seemed to have! They were just laughing with me! They were just… They were…_

_"I was wrong."_

"NO!"

I woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily and shoulders shaking with exhaustion and grief. I clutched my head in agony at the massive headache that was beginning to form once again. I couldn't stop those stupid memories from coming back. No matter how many therapy sessions, no matter how many exercises, they always came back, and it was becoming worse. I was beginning to remember in full detail, dreaming the whole experience up again. I had begun to have to resort to sleeping pills to force myself to sleep, afraid that I was going to collapse from exhaustion. Even the pills, which I'd hoped to give me a dreamless sleep, didn't help much. I still felt overly tired every day.

Sighing I slowly got up from bed and found my way to the kitchen to grab some water. Might as well drink something. I'm probably dehydrated like no one's business because of all the sweating and crying that I've been doing as of late.

"Ayaka-chan? Are you alright?"

I turned around, having expected Kanae to get up to check on me. "Yes, Kanae. Just another nightmare."

Her chocolate-colored eyes saddened at my reply as she came to lean against the counter beside me. I continued to sip at my water until I was finished and began to make my way back to bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, but thank you. I'm just going to go back to bed and hope for the best. I have that test tomorrow."

I was going to take the exam to become a genin. I had been at that level for a long time now, but I had never actually become an official genin. I had never had the chance to. I was usually moving around, and when we finally settled down it wasn't near any shinobi village for me to take the exam at.

It was one of the main things I had complained to my dad about, not being an official shinobi. It was sick that this had to be the way for me to be recognized.

Kanae sighed at me once again, dissatisfied with my answer. "Ayaka-chan, you can't keep it bottled up forever. It isn't healthy. It's only going to hinder you in the future."

"I don't keep it inside," I turned back to her, narrowing my eyes slightly. "I relive it all the time with the therapists who think it will help to go through the events several times and dissect every little thing I felt during every single moment. I talk about it all the time. I just don't want to talk about it anymore than I have to, and I'm not about to talk about something like that with other people. It's my burden, my responsibility alone."

Not wanting to be any ruder than I had just been to Kanae, someone of a much higher ranking, I slipped back into my room and closed the door softly, crawling underneath the covers of my bed. She just didn't understand it, though. I relived those moments all the time. Every time I closed my eyes, every time my mind was free from activity, every time I saw little kids, those events flashed through my mind. They were memories I couldn't shake free of, memories that continued to haunt me. I didn't want them around, didn't want to think of them. I certainly wasn't about to trouble more people about them. The less they were spoken about, the better. I just wanted to move on.

If I could move on, maybe I could be fixed.


	5. Difficulties and an Offer

A/N: Haha, second update~! Enjoy~! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.

* * *

"C'mon, Ayaka! I know you can do better than that!" The blonde kunoichi yelled out at me as she blocked several of my attacks on her.

I scowled, panting heavily. Kanae was absolutely right; I _could _do better than I was doing, but my fatigue was holding me back. I couldn't give my all if I didn't have the energy to.

Kanae came at me, throwing punches and kicks at a breakneck pace, and I struggled to keep up with her. Any other day it wouldn't have been a problem because speed was something I prided myself on, but with everything that had happened, it was like I could only be half the shinobi I used to be. If my father was around, he would, no doubt, be chewing me out right about now, lecturing me on how shinobi never have a chance to feel weak, a chance to feel tired. It was all about survival and completing your duty as a shinobi. As a shinobi, there wasn't any room for personal matters in his eyes. Only your duty.

"Agh!"

My arms, finally too exhausted and battered to keep up with her attacks, gave out, allowing her to land a punch to my cheek that sent me flying across the clearing. I winced in pain as my back came into contact with one of the many trees that surrounded us and fell to the ground on my knees, struggling to stand up again. Cursing myself I willed my legs to move. I couldn't let this session end like this. Not again. I was sick of losing to Kanae like this. Yes, she was of Jonin rank, probably even ANBU from what I've heard, but she wasn't even fighting me at an average chunin's level. If anything, she was borderline of a strong genin or a weak chunin, and that was humiliating to me. My father had told me I was probably at the level of a chunin, so I should have been able to keep up with the normally playful and sweet woman.

Something that had occurred two months ago, did it really still affect me so heavily?

Kanae sighed as she made her way over to me, crouching down beside me. "Are you okay, Ayaka-chan? I didn't mean to hit you so hard; I thought you were still strong enough for me to keep going like that. I didn't realize how tired you are."

"I'm fine, thanks. Just a little bruised, is all." I gave her a slight smile to show her I was fine. _Oh, what a lie._

She nodded, smiling back at me. "That's good. How about we go to the bathhouse? Clean ourselves up and just relax for a bit?"

"Sounds good!"

Kanae helped me to stand up, slipping an arm around my waist, and helping me to walk to our destination. Before we even managed to leave the training grounds, though, we ran into someone, or rather, a few someones.

"Ayaka-chan! Oh!" Naruto's eyes got big when he saw the state I was in. "Are you okay? What happened?"

He, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei all looked at me in curiosity. Gosh, now I felt embarrassed. Smiling cheerfully I waved his concern off. "I'm fine! I just had a bit of a rough training session today. I've been tired lately, so training's been kinda rough on me."

Kanae scoffed slightly, muttering something about training _always _being rough on me, resulting in a pinch to her side which caused her to yelp. I kept a smile on my face as I asked her what was the matter while she scowled back. What did she expect? She knew how I was going to react to a comment like that that was made in front of other people.

Kakashi-sensei was smiling... I think. "Well, in any case, don't push yourself too much. Your body is still recovering, so that'll make it harder for you to do things you would normally do with ease."

The things he said to me still shocked me, but not as much now. I was used to Kakashi-sensei being nice to me like this, but at the same time I wasn't used to being treated so nicely. My dad never told me to relax, as I've said before. I had lived my whole life being pushed. Such care still felt foreign to me. "Yes, sir. I'll try not to."

And then we began to part ways. The four man team probably headed off to do some training while Kanae and I were still heading to the bathhouse. Our two groups were a good distance from each other when I heard my name being called and footsteps heading toward me. I turned to see Naruto with a wide grin on his face.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to eat with us for lunch. We're going to Ichiraku's Ramen."

I blinked a few times. I hadn't seen Naruto or the others very often, save for Kakashi-sensei who checked up on me pretty often, probably for the Hokage. I had yet to really make any conversation with any of them, other than the occasional greeting. I was a little surprised by Naruto's offer, but I felt oddly happy.

"Sure," I smiled at the grinning blonde before me. "That'd be great. What time?"

"Oi! Naruto! Hurry up!" Sakura wasn't too happy, it seemed.

"Uh," Naruto began to turn back. "I'll come get you! See ya Ayaka-chan!"

"Bye!" I waved with my free hand, a genuine smile on my face. Then I heard a certain blonde giggle.

I had a feeling Kanae would be teasing me the whole time we were at the bathhouse.

* * *

Hope you guys liked it and don't forget to review! :)


	6. Akuma No Shisen

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading my story so much and reviewing! I really love you guys right now... TT_TT Tears of happiness cloud my vision!

Haha, sorry for being corny. ^^' Now, I hope you enjoy this next installment of Fixing the Broken Girl!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.

* * *

"So…"

My eyebrow twitched in anticipation at the upcoming question. I knew her silence at the bathhouse was too good to be true! Kanae, though at least in her mid-twenties, acted like a young teenage girl sometimes, usually when she was teasing me. At one point, I really appreciated it because her personality kept things from becoming awkward due to the age gap, but at another point, I wanted to knock her in the head. With a rock. A big rock.

"You like Naruto?"

If I had water in my mouth, I would have done a spit take just then. "W-what? No! I barely know the guy!"

Kanae smirked, a devilish look in her chocolate orbs. "You don't have to know him to have an attraction to him," She sighed, wiping away some tears that came out of no where. "Ah, my dear Ayaka-chan is all grown up. How did this happen so fast?"

"What're you crying for?"

"Alright!" Her mood quickly switched over to determination. Oh, dear. Please don't…

"I've decided,"

Don't you say it!

"I'm gonna help get you and your dream boy Naruto together!"

She said it.

"What the Heck, Kanae? I don't like him that way!"

"Oh, no," Her eyes widened. "She's already this far gone? My dear Ayaka-chan is already in the state of denial! She's growing so fast…" And there goes the random tears.

"K-Kanae…"

Not really sure of what to do, I simply patted her back. "I'm not growing up _that _fast. Like I said, I don't like him that way."

"But you will." Is she bipolar? She was crying, and now she's grinning like a chesire cat at me. I wonder if Tsunade-sama checked to make sure Kanae was mentally well before assigning her to be my guardian…

"I'm not crazy, you know. Such a harsh thought from a friend." Kanae deadpanned as she looked at me blankly, little tear droplets still caught on her eyelashes.

Crap. Did I really think that out loud?

"Yes, you _did _just think that out loud."

"Did I just do it again?"

"No," She grinned cheekily. "But it was pretty easy to guess what you were thinking with that shocked look on your face."

I sighed, looking away from her and walking over to the sofa in the living room to flop myself down upon it. No doubt my face was as red as a tomato right about now. I hadn't thought out loud in a long time. The last time I had done it was probably about a year or so ago when I was thinking aloud about my disdain at my father's training methods. Oh, man, did I get in trouble with him.

An image of his face, lifeless, flashed through my mind, and I immediately tried to clear my mind, thinking of nothing but the color I always found comforting - blue. I willed my mind to only think of that color, trying my hardest not to think about that incident. I didn't want to remember it all over again. The therapists finally stopped asking me to explain my feelings about it; I didn't want to start this up again. I had managed to keep my mind clear of any memory of them, even when I was asleep, for a whole week. I couldn't relapse, I couldn't -

My thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door. Kanae, who had been getting some water to drink, skipped over to the door happily.

"Hello~, Naru - Oh, it's you. Uchiha… Sanosuke?"

I could just hear his annoyance. "Uchiha _Sasuke. _Everyone is headed over to Ichiraku's now. Let's go."

"Oh, okay. Oi, Ayaka! Time to go!"

I quickly stood up and followed her out of our one story home. I glanced over at Sasuke, curious as to why he was the one picking us up rather than Naruto who said he would. As if he had read my mind (or I had thought out loud again…), he looked over at me.

"Naruto forgot his money at his house, so he had to run home to get it. Kakashi-sensei asked me to come get you guys instead."

"Ah."

An awkward silence descended upon us, causing me to fidget with the fishnets I wore on my arms. Eventually Kanae elbowed me so that I would stop and cleared her throat.

"So, Sasuke-kun… You have a kekkai genkai, right? The sharingan?"

"Yes."

"What does it do?"

This time I asked the question, now curious about the raven-haired shinobi. I forgot the Uchiha had a kekkai genkai.

"What does _yours _do?"

"I asked you first."

"But just about everyone knows what the sharingan does; blame yourself for not knowing. No one seems to know about your kekkai genkai, though."

He had a point. "Still…" I sighed, deciding to just give in and tell him about it. I didn't really have the energy to argue with him.

"The full name is akuma no shisen*, but most people call it shisen for short. It basically allows the user to cast a genjutsu over the opponent that causes them to experience their worst fears or nightmares. Sometimes they experience their most painful memory. The jutsu seeks out whatever that person fears most and brings it to life in the person's eyes. The amount of time the jutsu can last varies from person to person, but if you train it enough, it can be pretty much impossible to escape.

"It can also be deadly if the user isn't careful. The strain that the jutsu causes to the one it's being used on can become immense and cause the person to die. That's a large part of the reason my clan was run out of Konoha. People were scared that we would make their worst fears a reality at any moment, kill them if they weren't careful."

Sasuke nodded, taking in the information with a concentrated scowl on his face. "But they'd only die if the person using shisen had trained it to a high level, right? If it was a low level shisen, the strain wouldn't be enough to kill the person."

"Precisely," I smiled wistfully at him. "But panic doesn't allow logic to make its way through. There had been some murders that were suspected to be caused by shisen, so it was a high tension time. In the end, we left. Or so I've heard," I stretched my arms above my head.

"So you've heard?"

"It was a long time ago, back when my dad was a kid. He told me about it since I was always curious as to why we were always traveling. Not a lot of people remember the Shizuka clan, what we actually used to be. It's like we've become some legend, long forgotten and only spoken about to young children to make them behave. It's sad."

Sasuke nodded and began to explain the sharingan to me, and I found myself intrigued. His kekkai genkai could be really useful in any fight it seemed, so long as he was about as skilled as his opponent. Being able to predict their movements, copy their jutsus, see through tricks…

I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to be caught in a fight with him.

We arrived at Ichiraku's Ramen after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Everyone else was already there, including Naruto, though he seemed to have just arrived not too long before us. When he spotted us he immediately grinned and bounced over to where I had taken a seat beside Sakura. Kanae had gone to sit with Kakashi on the far left of the stall, Sasuke to his right, followed by Sakura, and then myself and Naruto.

"Hey Ayaka-chan! Sorry that I couldn't pick you guys up," His grin was apologetic as he scratched the back of his head. Haha, how cute…

"It's okay. It was actually kind of nice since I got to learn what the sharingan actually does."

His eyes got wide with curiosity the moment I mentioned Sasuke's kekkai genkai. "Oh! That's right, you have a kekkai genkai, too! I never got to find out what it does…"

"Hmph, always the last to know, eh, dobe?" I glanced over at Sasuke to find him smirking at Naruto.

"Shut up, teme! Do _you _know what it is?"

"I kind of told -"

"Ah. She told me on the way here."

"But Sak-"

Sakura raised a hand to stop him. "I looked it up the day we first spoke to her."

Naruto seemed to be at a loss for words. "K-Kakashi-sensei…?"

"Sorry, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei gave an apologetic smile. I think. "I knew before Ayaka-chan even arrived here."

The same went for Kanae as well, and Naruto began to sulk. I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. I didn't like seeming him look so sad. "Hey, I'll tell you something no one else knows about my kekkai genkai. It'll be really handy if you ever end up fighting me."

His face immediately lit up, blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

I leaned over to whisper in his ear. I really wasn't supposed to tell anyone about this. "A surefire way to break out of my kekkai genkai is to draw upon your happiest memory and focus on it as hard as you can. Think of nothing else but that memory."

I smiled happily at his curious face. I still hadn't told him what my kekai genkai actually was yet, so I began to explain what it was once more. I loved how attentive he seemed to be the whole time I was speaking. There was a child-like curiosity about him, yet he didn't exactly seem like a child. Obviously he was a jokester, a bit immature, but he had a lot of heart. I had heard a lot about Naruto from Kanae while we were at the bathhouse (in retrospect, her eagerness to tell me more about Naruto should have warned me she was going to tease me later), and from what I heard, he was a lot stronger than you would expect, and he valued his friends _way _above himself. He wasn't one to give up, even when things seemed absolutely hopeless. This tended to result in shocked reactions from multiple people because he tended to pull moves that would completely change the fight's outcome, like managing to summon a giant frog, for example, or releasing, er, _gas _that stunned his enemy long enough for him to win the fight. He was a surprising guy.

That's probably why I never expected him to be the one to fix me.

* * *

Hope you guys liked it and don't forget to review! :)

* Akuma no Shisen translates to Devil's Stare

~~ 1000WTBS


	7. Warning

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! I really appreaciate it! X) I also want to apologize for the short chapter today, but I wanted to get something out for you guys. Enjoy~! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.

* * *

"Ayaka," Tsunade looked me directly in the eyes, her own eyes having an apologetic tint to them. "I'm sorry, but we weren't able to recover much from your house. The house and the surrounding area were burned."

That didn't surprise me whatsoever.

The fifth Hokage had called me to her office to discuss with me the matter of my belongings that had been left behind at my last home. It had taken a while, but a team was sent out to recover anything of value to me or the village. I really hadn't expected much to come from it because my father had always been extremely meticulous in covering our family's tracks. He had to be in order to keep us all safe.

"We did recover a few photos, a few scrolls which will have to be looked through before we hand them over," She looked at me to see if such a thing bothered me. It didn't. I understood that the scrolls might contain some information that I may not need to see yet or information about how Orochimaru found my family. "And your family's remains. We'll have a proper burial for them, but we need to examine them as well."

I felt slightly uneasy with people I didn't know touching my family's remains, but I didn't object. Once again, they needed to find any information they could on how they died. I nodded when Tsunade asked for my approval, remaining impassive. I was thinking of the color blue again, trying with all my might to block out all the memories. So far, it had been working rather well for me, blocking everything out like that. I didn't speak about them, think about them, dream about them, and no one ever asked me about them. It had been three months now since the incident, and I felt proud of myself. I hadn't relapsed as I feared.

The Hokage's sigh shook me from my thoughts. We caught each other's gaze again. "Ayaka…"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"I'm a little worried about you."

My eyebrows raised in surprise. "I'm sorry, but why? I've been doing well."

"That's the thing," She laced her fingers together in front of her face, a slight scowl on her features. "I feel as if you're dealing with your family's death _too _well. Last month Kanae reported that you were having nightmares every night, but then they suddenly stopped. Your health began improving tremendously. Your social habits, too,"

Naruto's grinning face flashed through my mind. I had been spending a lot of time with him lately. I had also started meeting some of the other shinobi in our age group.

"And just now, I spoke to you about your family and the place they died at, and you showed no emotion whatsoever. I've been in a similar situation where I've lost loved ones, and even I couldn't help but to show my emotions whenever they were brought up. I'm just," She paused again, taking in a deep breath. "I'm worried that you may not actually be _dealing _with your family members' deaths, but simply _blocking _them out, and that's a dangerous thing, Ayaka."

I couldn't respond because that was exactly what I was doing.

"If you aren't careful, everything is going to come rushing out. All the hurt, the shock, the pain… _All _of it will be even worse than it originally was if you don't face those memories. Perhaps you aren't blocking those memories out, but you're just exceptionally skilled in hiding your emotions. I'm not sure because I don't know you very well, but just be careful of your coping methods, okay?"

I still couldn't find the words to speak, so I simply nodded with a slight smile on my face. I couldn't believe she had really just said all of that. How did she know that I _was _blocking everything out? And even with her warning…

I don't think I was ready to face them yet.

Tsunade now gave me a smile of her own. "Your things will be brought to you by one of the shinobi who went on the mission. Their team leader went ahead of the team to inform me of everything that was recovered while the others will be arriving soon. I would just wait at home for your things."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama. I'll see you around!"

Waving with a bright smile on my face, I left her office, frowning the moment I had left. I really hoped she wouldn't pester Kanae to talk to me about the 'blocking out' thing.

~FTBG~

I thought about what Tsunade had said when I got home. Was blocking the memories out only hurting me? I mean, I had improved a lot, like Tsunade had said, but would I only get hurt in the end? The method was working fine for me and had yet to fail. Then again, she has been in the same position, so perhaps she knows more about this than I do. The thing is, though, I don't want to face those memories. I don't think I can at this point.

I don't want to face all of that pain again. I felt horrible _all _the time, barely got any sleep, and always felt hollow. I didn't feel that way anymore. My life is actually turning into something slightly normal now. I can't just go back to how I was before.

I was broken before. I didn't want to go back to that.

_Ding, dong._

Oh? The doorbell. It must be that person delivering my things.

I opened the door to reveal the last person I had expected to see.

* * *

Ohohoho, who is this person, hmm? Anyone wanting to take a guess? Perhaps a prize of some sort shall be in order...

Ayaka: What do you really have to offer anyone, though? You're pretty much broke...

Hush about that! . And I can always include a person's OC of their choice in the story, write a oneshot, or grant some other literary request. People happen to love my writing quite a lot, you know. ;3

Ayaka: ...Why do I find that hard to believe?

Hey!

Hope you guys liked it and don't forget to review! :)

~~ 1000WTBS


	8. Photos

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! I really appreaciate it! I also apologize for not updating for a while and for giving you guys such a short chapter. I've had a bit of writer's block with this, but I plan on watching more Naruto or reading the manga to get rid of it because that may be my problem. I haven't watched Naruto in such a long time that I'm having difficulties writing a fanfic for it. I promise to do my best to get better chapters out for you guys!

And congrats to raidersfan777 for guessing the right character! *cough* And for being the only one to guess...

Anyways, congrats! You have a few choices: an OC inserted into my story, a one shot, or something else of your choice~! :D Just message me or tell me in a review; either way is good. ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.

* * *

At first I was extremely confused as to why Uchiha Sasuke was standing in my doorway. I barely knew him, barely spoke with him, and certainly hadn't ever expected him to be the one to initiate anything. I was even _more _confused by the look in his eyes, as if he was really seeing me, not the cheerful, carefree me I sometimes pretended to be, but the _real_ Ayaka, the Ayaka that was trying to hide from her pain. It was like he finally understood why I had been in that clearing and why I was alone.

Only when the dark-eyed teen lifted his hand, allowing me to see what he held, did I realize why he was here. Sasuke was the one delivering my things to me. That also meant that all of team seven also knew about what happened those few months ago.

I felt dread start to fill the pit of my stomach. I didn't want them to start looking and treating me differently. I didn't want them to act the same way so many others had, handling me as if I would break down any second, trying to be careful with the words they said around me, pushing me to talk about the incident to them or avoiding the topic completely in the most obvious manner. They were friends I had made without having to spill about my baggage right away. They treated me like anyone else they knew. I didn't want that to change.

Sasuke was the first to break the silence. "I'm only allowed to give you these photos right now," He handed me the pictures, never breaking eye contact.

I took the photos, holding them, but never taking a look at them. "Thank you."

An awkward silence descended upon us for a few minutes until Sasuke began to turn away, probably to head home to clean up and relax. My hand had shot out and grabbed the hem of his shirt before I had even realized I had thought about it. He turned his head to look at me, a question obvious in his dark eyes. I felt my face burn a bit at my actions.

"Um, well… Sakura and Naruto…" I bit my lip, nervous of his answer. "Do they know…?"

"I'm not sure about Sakura, but she probably figured it out."

"Naruto?" Please say no…

Sasuke, as if sensing what I wanted my answer to be, turned his head so he wouldn't see my face when he told me what the verdict was. "Naruto knows. He was the one who found the pictures."

My grip on Sasuke's shirt slipped as I stood there, feeling crushed. I muttered a thanks and gave a weak smile I doubt he saw, and closed my door, wandering to my room so that I could lay down on my bed. Still not looking at the photos, I placed them on my bedside table and burried my face in the covers of my bed. This was just great. Sakura _and _Naruto knew. I may have been able to deal with Sakura knowing, but Naruto… Out of everyone, I wanted him to know my past the least. He treated me in such a friendly manner, like we had known each other for longer than a few months. I didn't want to lose that over the awkwardness of knowing about something horrible that happened to me in the past.

Wanting to do anything but think about the current situation, I decided to go out for a walk. Might as well do something productive to take my mind off of my troubles. Just as I was about to step out of the door, Tsunade's warning flitted through my mind. Was I doing it again? Blocking things out? Was I avoiding the problem of Naruto and Sakura knowing about my past?

I shook such thoughts from my mind and continued outside. There wasn't any need to worry about such things right now. This was different from dealing with my memories; I would eventually have to see Naruto and Sakura again. I couldn't just avoid them.

But memories... Memories can be forgotten.

* * *

Sorry again for the short length, but I hope you guys liked it and don't forget to review! :)

~~ 1000WTBS


	9. A Habit

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! I apologize for the length not being very long, but I really wanted to get this out to you. I rather like this scene, but I'm not quite satisfied with my dialogue... . Anywho, hope you enjoy~!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.

* * *

To be honest, I had been avoiding all of team seven ever since Sasuke had delivered the pictures to me, and he had done so three days ago. Kanae was baffled as to why I always seemed so jittery whenever we left the house, but I refused to give her an answer, instead denying that something was wrong. That was getting rather hard to prove, though, as the days continued on and my abnormal behavior continued. It seemed the three teens were everywhere I happened to be.

I was about at the end of my rope. I was beginning to miss speaking with Sakura and Naruto, and even Sasuke, though he wasn't a huge talker, and avoiding them was becoming increasingly harder the more I went outside. I wasn't sure I could keep this up anymore, no matter how much I didn't want to face them.

I scowled and continued to kick at the stump in front of me, not caring that the padding I had wrapped around my legs had long worn out and that I could now feel the pain shooting up my leg in sharp throbs. I stopped myself from thinking about what my father would say about enduring pain by, once again, thinking of the color blue. I refused, absolutely refused, to let myself set off the memories. Orochimaru had broken me that day, but the pieces were slowly putting themselves together, however slowly. I had to get myself together as soon as possible in order to concentrate on becoming a better kunoichi. Who knew when that snake would come after me again? I had to get stronger in order to be able to face him.

I wouldn't allow him to break me a second time.

"You keep that up for much longer, and you'll end up fracturing your bone, Ayaka-chan."

I nearly had a heart attack when I heard the familiar voice speak up. Everyone seems to enjoy sneaking up on me, _especially _Kanae… Scaring me in the middle of the night when all I want is to get some water…

I turned around to find none other than Kakashi leaning up against one of the many trees that surrounded us, reading a book called Ichi Ichi Paradise. Wiping the sweat from my brow and wincing at the now prominent pain in my left leg, I settled myself on top of the stump, deciding to take a brief rest and see why Kakashi had come to see me. Other than checking up on me and running into each other because of his team, we didn't see a whole lot of each other.

"We haven't seen you around lately," Kakashi paused as he turned the page in his book. "Naruto and Sakura miss you."

"Ah, well, I've been kind of… busy."

"I see. You've been training more?"

"Yes, sir. I'm making sure I'm prepared for the genin test."

"You do realize that you're already above genin level?"

"Yes, sir, but I haven't been at my best, and so I'm trying to get myself back to how I was."

"I see. Well!" Kakashi snapped his book shut, his eyes closed in a smile. "I'll let Naruto and Sakura know about your training. They can help you since Kanae has been busy with her own matters. And we might as well include Sasuke; we wouldn't want him to feel left out."

"Ah, no!" I caught myself. I didn't need to make it obvious I didn't want to be around them. "No, I wouldn't want to trouble them. I'm sure they have their own training, too."

"You guys can help each other out, like killing two birds with one stone."

"But…" I trailed off, realizing Kakashi had backed me into a corner, and I assumed he had done so intentionally. The meetings I had with him always resulted in me revealing something to him, like some of my fears and dreams. He had gotten those out of me the first time he visited me after Kanae was assigned to live with me. Now he had managed to reveal that I had, indeed, been avoiding his team, even though it hadn't been straightforward.

The more I got to know Kakashi, the more he seemed like my father. Otou-san had been a master when it came to getting information out of me.

"Ah, Naruto will be really happy, too. He's been dying to see you in action ever since you told him about your kekkai genkai. I think he's actually eager to spar with you, Ayaka-chan."

I slipped down off of the stump, nodding with a smile that I doubted reached my eyes. "I bet. I've also been wanting to spar with him. I've heard a lot from Kanae about the chunin exams."

"I'll tell them to meet you here tomorrow at nine," Kakashi looked at me for approval, but I doubted he would have let me say no to the arrangement.

"Sounds good."

"Good. See you later, Ayaka-chan!"

I gave a grin and a wave, silently dreading what was to come. I could've handled Sasuke because I don't take him for one to interrogate a person about something they are obviously trying to keep to themselves, but Sakura and Naruto would also be there tomorrow, and I had no idea what to expect from them. Would they question me? Would they act as if they didn't know? Would they be angry at me for not telling them about it? I felt sick with nervousness.

"Oh, and Ayaka-chan," Kakashi locked eyes with me. "If you keep running away, it'll become a habit, and I don't think it's a habit that suits you."

Then he was gone in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Ayaka: *scowling at the chapter* Why have you made me into such a coward? *gives 1000WTBS a death glare* I'm not like that!

1000WTBS: But for the sake of this part of the story, you are~!

Ayaka: Don't say that in such a happy manner!

Naruto: Ne, Ayaka-chan, why're you avoiding me?

Ayaka: Ah, well, I, uh...

1000WTBS: And I'll leave you guys to discuss that! Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter, and please remember to review! They keep me motivated and spur me into writing sessions~

~~ 1000WTBS


	10. Cheetahs Are Trouble

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! I'm sorry that I took a bit longer to update, but I was trying to get this chapter right. Even as it is, I'm still not quite all the way satisfied with how it turned out, and that's mostly because I don't have much experience in writing fight scenes... Hopefully it turned out well enough for you guys to enjoy it, though. Hope you enjoy this~!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.

* * *

I looked around, trying to determine which Naruto in front of me was the real one. There was five of him, all grinning and waiting for my next move. I refused to bring out my shisen, and I was sure that was what Naruto was trying to force me to do. Bruises and cuts littered my body, and my arms were pulsating with pain that resulted from blocking so many of his attacks. Now that he had made clones of himself, I was either going to have to find a way to pick him out, or use akuma no shisen.

Deciding that it was time to be a little more serious with Naruto, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and opened them.

I could practically feel everyone tense up once I opened my eyes. My eyes were no longer their pretty amber, but now blood red with specks of fiery orange and with a cat-like pupil in the center. I honestly didn't find my eyes to look very terrifying, but the things they could do were, and everyone here knew that. Of course, I didn't really plan to use the genjutsu on Naruto. It was just easier to use shisen to determine which Naruto standing before me was the real one rather than trying to find any differences I could. It would also be to my advantage to use shisen in this case because I could turn the clones against him if I wanted to.

Now to find Naruto.

I scanned through them only to find myself extremely confused. My shisen wasn't determining which one was real, which would imply they were all real or the real Naruto wasn't among them, but I couldn't pick up on Naruto's chakra anywhere else but…

What the… They all have chakra! That shouldn't be possible if they're all just simple clones!

Now I was even more confused. Naruto had used a simple cloning technique, so why did they all have chakra? They should all be illusions, not real beings.

"Hehe, your dojutsu won't be able to tell which is which, Ayaka-chan!"

I looked at the Naruto that stood to the far right. "But they're just clones…"

"But they're _shadow _clones," One standing in the middle started.

"**So you can't determine who the real Naruto is!**" They all chanted together, grinning smugly.

I smiled to myself. Clever boy.

I threw several kunai at all of them, rushing at them with a speed I hadn't used on Naruto previously. Two didn't react fast enough and were struck by my kunai, disappearing in a cloud of smoke while the other three dodged or deflected the attack and went after me. I ducked as one threw a punch for my head and grabbed another's leg that had been aimed for me, swinging him around to hit the one that had missed me earlier. They both disappeared, leaving me with one Naruto who had to be the real Naruto and who went for a sliding kick in hopes of knocking me off my feet.

No such luck.

I jumped over him, landing on my feet lightly and abruptly spinning around to face him. He let out a yell, running towards me and launching his fist towards me. My arms shot up out of reflex, expecting his fist to connect with my fishnet-covered arms. Instead of the attack actually hitting me, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, my eyes widening in the sudden realization.

"They were all clones… Which means -"

I tried to twist around in order to block the attack I knew was coming, but I took too long to realize what was going, which meant Naruto's kick connected with my back. _Hard. _I was sent flying through the air and straight into a tree, knocking the wind out of me for a good few minutes as Naruto grinned triumphantly. Slowly sitting up, I tried to catch my breath, massaging my back the best I could to try and ease the pain. Man, that freaking _hurt._

Well, that was… unexpected. I didn't take Naruto as someone who would pull a trick like that; I took the blonde ninja as a strictly head-on fighter. It was a nice surprise to see Naruto manage to trick me, though I could have done without the kick to the back… I'm pretty sure that's going to leave a nasty bruise.

Naruto, after realizing his kick may have affected me more than he thought, ran over to me and crouched down to my height. Worry replaced the happiness that had previously occupied his eyes.

"Are you okay, Ayaka-chan? I may have kicked a little harder than I meant to."

I smiled. It wouldn't do any good to let him know how bad my back actually hurt right now. "Yeah, I'll be okay. You just kind of surprised me. I wasn't expecting such a clever trick."

"Hey," Naruto gave me another grin. "I'm a lot smarter than you think."

Even Sakura, who I noticed was the one that got onto Naruto the most for doing stupid things, looked impressed at Naruto's ploy, and Sasuke looked like he was smirking, too, but that could have been the lights and shadows messing with my eyesight. I had to admit, Naruto had me. If we had been fighting for real, I would have been in big trouble.

"Well, I'm gonna rest a bit. Why don't you and Sasuke spar a bit?"

The two teenage boys did so, leaving Sakura and I to observe. I contemplated healing my back for a bit. It wasn't anything serious - I probably could just take some painkillers and I'd be okay - but my back would be a nuisance if I wanted to continue training and sparring with team seven. At the same time, though, I wasn't the best at healing jutsu, and performing one could drain a ton of my chakra. The pain was starting to fade away anyways. Oh, forget it; I'll just endure the pain for now.

"Hey, Ayaka-san?" I tilted my head up, realizing Sakura had walked over to stand next to me.

"Yeah?"

"Um, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it, but," Sakura hesitated.

I could hear my heart's roaring pounding. _Please, don't ask…_

"Um… Why won't you use your kekkai genkai?"

I nearly sighed in relief. Thank goodness, she decided against asking me about what happened those months ago. So far she and Naruto had acted as they had before, though Sakura had slipped up a little bit to begin with. She initially acted a little awkwardly, as if she wasn't quite sure how to act around me anymore. After a little while, though, the pink-haired kunoichi began to act normally, which I was thankful for, and she had nicely managed to avoid the subject once more. Thank you, Sakura.

"Well, as you know, it makes nightmares become a reality. I have no qualms about using it on an actual enemy, but I can't use it on you guys. Sure, my shisen isn't at a high enough level to make the scariest things you think of come to life, yet, but it still messes with your head. My dad," I looked down, and began thinking of blue again. "He used his on me once to give me an idea of what my opponents would be up against, and also because I needed to know how to get out of it. Well… things didn't go as planned and I couldn't escape from it. Even though my father was going easy on me, I still had trouble getting over the experience for a few days. Akuma no Shisen isn't something I would use on my sparring partner because of that."

Sakura nodded, an interested look on her face. "I see…"

A slightly awkward silence descended upon us as Naruto and Sasuke continued going back and forth, dodging and attacking. They were pretty well matched right now.

…Until Sasuke disappeared and reappeared behind Naruto with a kunai held to his neck. My eyes widened in surprise. I didn't see Sasuke do any hand signs, so that wasn't a transportation or substitution jutsu; that was simply his speed. I didn't know he was so swift. Though, Naruto _did _just finish sparring with me. It would be hard for anyone to keep up with that speed in his state.

Sakura cheered for Sasuke and told Naruto he needed to train more. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head and smiling at the interaction between the three. Sasuke simply smirked while Naruto pouted, irritated that he had been defeated, and Sakura lectured him. They were an amusing bunch, no doubt. That's kind of why I didn't want them to know about my past. If they knew, that knowledge might influence their behavior around me, and I don't want them to change because of me. I like how things are now. I feel… I feel better when I'm around them.

"Well, it's not fair! I just finished sparring with Ayaka-chan, so I'm tired! Obviously Sasuke won only because of that!"

Naruto continued to rant and yell for a short while. I continued to smile at the scene before me. I didn't realize he had such a competitive side.

"Well!" I stood up, stretching and hearing a few satisfying cracks. "I got to rest a bit, so how about you and I spar, Sasuke? Give Naruto a chance to rest up," I grinned at the blue-eyed blonde teasingly who turned his head away, wearing a pout. I could have sworn I saw his face turn red…

Eh, it's probably just the heat. It _is _pretty unbearable today.

The Uchiha smirked. "Sure. I don't mind."

"But Ayaka-san, your back…"

I turned and smiled reassuringly to Sakura. "I'm fine, Sakura-chan! If anything, I probably just have a nice bruise, now. The pain isn't even there anymore." Okay, so the last part was a lie. My back still hurt a bit, but Sakura didn't need to know that.

Sakura nodded, backing down but still looking unsure. "Okay, if you say so…"

I went to stand in front of Sasuke, readying my self for the fight that was about to come. I would either really love this next fight, or regret challenging him. Hopefully, it's the former rather than the latter.

Sasuke made the first move, throwing several shuriken at me and causing me to have to jump back a few feet in order to dodge the attack. Sasuke suddenly appeared directly in front of me, and I was beyond surprised because I hadn't been able to see him. I remembered I had deactivated shisen after fighting Naruto and realized that if I wanted to keep up with Sasuke I was going to need to activate it; otherwise, my eyes wouldn't be able to keep up with his speed.

I hastily did the hand signs for the substitution jutsu, leaving a bored-looking stuffed animal (a cat) in my place. I grinned at Sasuke's surprised face and only widened it when he realized a paper bomb was attached to the little orange cat. He threw it away from him and jumped back a few feet just in case, all the while searching the area for me. I was hiding in the taller branches of a tree, trying to decide what my next move would be. I had to think fast because I knew it wouldn't take the teen long to find me.

Grinning, I decided I would use the one thing I had above Sasuke: the element of surprise. Of course, I was hiding so I could make a surprise attack, but he also didn't know much about how I fought. The most he knew was that I was pretty good with taijutsu and that I had a kekkai genkai that I refused to actually use while sparring, while I knew about his speed and the jutsu he used (courtesy of Kanae who loved to tell me about the other shinobi my age).

Ah, this would be quite fun after all.

After biting my thumb hard enough to draw blood, I quickly made the hand signs necessary to summon Runo, a practically harmless orange cat. She was more of a companion summon rather than a summon meant for combat, but she would be useful for my plan. I quickly told her what I wanted her to do before finding another hiding place, knowing that Sasuke was about to check my previous one. While he was distracted by Runo (who had decided that Sasuke was her new best friend), I summoned Daichi, probably one of, if not my favorite, summons. He was a cheetah, full-grown and slightly larger than average. He loved teasing me and challenging my authority, but he was always there for me when it actually counted. Other than that, he was one of the fastest summons out there and a ferocious warrior.

Daichi actually scared me a little. Don't tell him that, though. His ego is big enough as it is.

Once again, I found myself telling Daichi what I wanted him to do, thankful that he was being serious today. The feline nodded, slightly nudging me to hurry up and leave, and I did so without hesitation.

I could hear Sasuke's surprised yelp of pain as Runo bit him, just as I had told her to do as soon as the onyx-haired boy noticed Daichi was summoned. Distracted by trying to get the small, stubborn feline to release his hand, he was left defenseless, allowing Daichi to swoop in and knock him down from the tree. I could hear a collective, surprised gasp in the clearing as the group of three fell down. It was a funny sight, seeing Sasuke lying on the ground on his back with Runo sitting on his chest proudly as if she had been the one to single handedly knock him down, Daichi simply looking down at the Uchiha with a bored expression.

Gathering his wits back, Sasuke jumped to his feet, distancing himself from Daichi and Runo and trying to locate me while keeping an eye on the summons. I realized he had activated his Sharingan and decided I would go ahead and activate Shisen, too. It would make keeping up with his speed easier.

Daichi bounded towards Sasuke at an alarming pace, shocking everyone in the clearing once again. Sasuke continued to keep his distance, throwing kunai and shuriken, performing fire-based jutsu to keep the large feline at bay, but Daichi, like I said before, is amazingly fast. Before Sasuke knew it, Daichi had managed to get behind him, biting his shoulder (though not hard enough to draw blood. I didn't want to seriously hurt my friend.), and his resting his large paws on Sasuke's shoulders.

I decided to jump down now, knowing the fight was over. I grinned when I came to a stop a few feet in front of Sasuke who looked caught between being annoyed and being impressed.

"I suppose I win this time. " I pet Runo as she settled herself on my shoulder.

"You hid for the majority of the time, though." Sasuke argued.

"Yes, I did, but I thought that you would find me, actually. I didn't think you would fall for my distraction. And would you have really wanted me to get involved when Daichi was going at you? Besides, he may be very precise in the amount of power he attacks with, but," I felt myself twitch, annoyed, as I saw Daichi give me an amused look. "There's been more than one occasion where I was involved in the fight and ended up in the same state as my opponent because of that knucklehead's aim."

Sasuke remained silent, probably upset that he had lost to me. Heck, I would have been annoyed to lose, too. "How come you didn't fight like this with Naruto?"

"To be honest, and no offense, Naruto, but I wasn't exactly expecting to be challenged by him as much as I was. He didn't really give me any time to think of a good plan. I was stupid and underestimated him, which I won't be doing again."

I could practically feel the pride seeping off of Naruto. I had no doubt he was going to hold the fact he had beaten me and that Sasuke hadn't over the poor teen prodigy's head for a while.

"But don't beat yourself up about losing, okay? You had no idea about what I was really capable of, while I already knew about your style somewhat. I'm sure next time we spar you'll kick my butt." I smiled reassuringly. I didn't want him to be angry with me.

I could almost swear I saw a smile flit across his face before it went blank again. "Okay… Could you get this cat off of me now?"

"Sure. Daichi, you can release him."

I got a bad feeling when I locked eyes with the swift creature. He was giving me a sly look, and I knew that those gears in his head were turning just about as fast as he could run, forming some kind of sinister plan. I scowled at him, warning him with my own eyes that he had better not do anything.

But when has that cheetah ever listened to me in a normal situation?

Daichi ceased biting Sasuke's shoulder, and I thought hopefully for a second he was going to let the poor guy go, but no such luck. Instead, he pushed Sasuke forward with his paws, causing the Uchiha to stumble forward since he wasn't expecting it. And guess whom he stumbled into as he tried to catch his balance?

Yes, that's right folks, _me._

We both fell backwards, me ending up on my back and Sasuke - Well, I closed my eyes before we fell, so I wasn't actually sure how he had landed. Cracking an eye open tentatively, I saw Sasuke's surprised, pink face directly in front of my own. My eyes shot open, my face heating up. He had managed to stop himself from falling on top of me, but now his hands were on either side of my head, and his legs were straddling me. I could only imagine how bad this probably looked, but luckily, Naruto and Sakura saw what happened, so there won't be any misunderstan-

"Would someone like to tell me just _what_ is going on?"

My head jerked to the left, finding Kakashi gazing over at Sasuke and me. If possible, my eyes got even wider, especially when I saw that Kanae was standing beside him with both a shocked and amused expression on her face. Kakashi looked about ready to kill somebody.

I am going to pummel that cheetah.

* * *

Ayaka: o/o

1000WTBS: Hmm?

Ayaka: ...Why?

1000WTBS: 'Cause ya need a bit o' romance, child! Plus a little triangle might be intriguing, hehehe...

Ayaka: O.O Oh dear, the plot bunnies are back...

1000WTBS: Yes, yes they are. :)

Anywho, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought!

~~ 1000WTBS


	11. Can't Be Fooled

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! Here's another update for you guys~!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.

* * *

I thought I was going to faint from all the stress that was suddenly on my body. The summonings were taking their tolls, being so close to a boy for the first time was flustering me, and having four people experience it all just made everything all that much worse. Why must Kanae and Kakashi have such horrible timing?

I could feel Sasuke's breath against my cheeks as he, too, stared at the two older shinobi in shock and embarrassment. All the kids seemed to freeze in front of them, horrified. No one seemed to be able to think straight with the sudden events that had just taken place. It was the sound of snickering coming from two amused felines that finally snapped everyone out of their reverie.

"Oi! Teme! Get off of Ayaka-chan!" Naruto glared at Sasuke with what seemed to be fire in his eyes. I would have laughed if it hadn't been for the current situation I was in.

Naruto's words seemed to smack Sasuke back into action because the onyx-haired shinobi immediately clambered off me and to his feet, turning his face away and trying to make his face blank. It was obvious, at least from where I was, that he was blushing cherry red, though. Once again, I would have been amused had it not been for the situation.

I remained on the ground, dazed. I hadn't ever been so close to a boy before. Honestly, I hadn't ever had much interaction with boys my age because of the life I lived with my family. We lived together, but away from everyone else, so I never really knew anyone my age. It was really weird because I had enjoyed the close proximity, but at the same time, I found it really awkward because I didn't know Sasuke all that well, nor was I sure that I actually had romantic feelings for him. I hadn't known him for very long, so I obviously couldn't like him that way yet. But Kanae did say you didn't have to know a person to be attracted to him…

Quickly sitting up, I shook my head furiously, ridding my head of such thoughts.

"Um, Ayaka-chan? Are you alright?"

I turned to Kakashi who, for the first time I since I'd met him, showed his concern openly, though a rather large sweat drop covered it up. "Uh, yeah. Just kind of shaken I guess."

"Oh my," Kanae trotted over to me and knelt beside me, taking face in her hands. "My little Ayaka-chan…" She wiped a few tears that had magically appeared once again. How does she do that? "I knew you were growing up, but this is simply too fast! Don't allow yourself to be corrupted by the more experienced, my little red flower!*"

I knew my face had probably turned crimson again. "Oi! What kind of things were you thinking, Kanae? Daichi pushed Sasuke into me and we ended up falling down. Nothing happened…" I trailed off, now feeling embarrassed as I recalled the position in which we fell. Stupid cheetah…

Kanae continued to whine. "Oh, no! Kakashi, she's already starting to be rebellious by fibbing to me! Ayaka-chan, don't be like this~!"

Everyone, excluding Kanae of course, now had a large sweat drop on their heads. Why was she doing this to me? And why am I not upset that she basically just called me a liar? I think it's because she's somehow managed to look utterly adorable while she's whining, but still… This is ridiculous! Nothing happened between Sasuke and I and it's not like either of us would ever try to do anything to the other. Gosh, Kanae…

"Hehe," Kanae grinned at me cheekily. What was with her mood swings? "I look utterly adorable when I'm whining? Why, thank you, Ayaka-chan! You look utterly adorable when you're embarrassed like you are now! So cute~!" She began pinching my cheeks.

Did I really just think out loud? _Again? _What is wrong with me? Those weren't thoughts that were meant to be heard! I've been doing this a lot lately, gosh…

I slapped away Kanae's hands and quickly stood up, brushing myself off. I avoided everyone's eyes and calmly strolled over to where Daichi had taken a seat beside Kakashi, Runo resting on the jounin's shoulder. Daichi seemed to be holding back laughter as he gazed at me with amused coffee-colored eyes. Thoroughly annoyed, I scowled at the feline as I felt everyone paused in their own amusement to see what I was about to do.

I lifted one hand as if I was going to pat him on the nose, and promptly flicked him.

The larger-than-average cheetah jerked back in both pain and surprise, lifting his paws to cradle his nose somewhat as I smirked triumphantly. "Serves you right, you troublesome cat! You always do this whenever I summon you; can't you ever just be cooperative and _not _cause trouble? Gosh,"

"Where's the fun in that? Gagh," He rubbed at his tender nose. "You little brat, that hurt!"

"It was supposed to," I rolled my eyes and let him disappear in a puff of smoke, glad to have the cheetah out of my hair momentarily. Runo jumped off of Kakashi and landed on my shoulder, rubbing against my cheek lovingly. No doubt, she was trying to butter me up so that I wouldn't make her leave so soon. I sighed and chose to let her stay. Having her out and about didn't drain from my chakra too much, so it should be okay.

"Alright, how about we all go out for ramen, now? You all have worked really hard today and could use a good meal."

I was kind of thankful to be going out for ramen; it would distract me from what just happened to me and perhaps even keep Kanae from teasing me for a good hour or so. Everyone looked around at each other to see if there were any objections, and Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"Let's go."

~J ~

Things were a lot less awkward once we arrived at Ichiraku's and began eating. It seemed like everyone had forgotten about the earlier events for the most part, and I was happy that they had. I didn't really think it meant much, anyways, since Sasuke and I didn't have any real feelings of that sort for each other. It was just an innocent accident… An innocent, extremely awkward accident.

I felt my right arm being nudged by an elbow and glanced to my right to find Naruto gazing right back at me. I couldn't really tell what he was feeling, but he was more serious than I had ever seen him.

"Ne, Ayaka-chan, you don't," He paused, poking around at his ramen, which immediately made me concerned. Naruto wasn't one to just poke around his food, _especially _his ramen. Was he okay? "You don't…" The blonde paused again as his face began to turn a light pink. I tilted my head to the side in curiosity. Was he feeling okay?

"Are you alright, Naruto? Your face is a little pink. You're not sick, are you?"

His face turned a light shade of red. "N-no, I'm okay, but Ayaka-chan, you don't actually like that teme, do you?"

I blinked a few times, trying to figure out what he was talking about, and then nearly smacked myself for being so slow. He was obviously talking about Sasuke because of what happened earlier. Although, why was he concerned about that?

"No, I don't. I barely know him, Naruto. What happened earlier hasn't influenced me whatsoever. You can't base liking someone only on attraction, after all."

His blue eyes seemed to shine a little brighter as he grinned, apparently happy with my answer. "Oh, okay. I just wanted to know because most of the girls in the village end up falling for him."

"Really? I mean, I suppose I can see that since he is handsome, but I'd think his cold demeanor would throw them off." I stuck some of the noodles in my mouth as I contemplated the new information about Sasuke. So he was the heartthrob of the village, huh?

"Heh, if anything it just makes them like him more. I don't get it."

"Hmm… Probably because that means you have to earn his affection. His coldness tells them that he isn't easily won over. People like a challenge."

A contemplative silence descended between us while the other four to our left continued to chat away. It remained that way for a few seconds until Naruto spoke up again, and I immediately wished he hadn't.

"Ayaka-chan… Why did you avoid us?"

I had already thought of excuses, but my stomach still felt queasy. "I wasn't avoiding you guys. I was just really busy with training and working certain things out." I made sure to give him the brightest smile I could muster.

His eyes told me he'd seen right through it.

* * *

* Ayaka traditionally means red flower or petal

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought!

~~ 1000WTBS


	12. It All Comes Rushing Back

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! **

**Sorry for the wait, but I hit a bit of writer's block for a bit. -_-' Hate it so much, but after speaking with a friend of mine and after finding the perfect music to write to, I overcame it~! :D Though I'm not quite sure if I like this chapter completely... Anyways! Here's the next installment of "Fixing the Broken Girl!"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.**

* * *

Naruto… That boy certainly is packed full of surprises.

After I had given him the excuse I had been really busy lately with training and other things, he suggested that I train with him and the rest of team seven since I had yet to be assigned to a team and Kanae was starting to go out on missions much more often than before, leaving me by myself quite frequently. The blonde shinobi said it would make things easier on me and would help me prepare for having to work as a team since I would eventually be assigned to one. Obviously I couldn't refuse; his reasoning was flawless, and the whole 'burden' excuse wouldn't stand a chance.

So I agreed. It didn't seem like he or Sakura were going to bring up my family any time soon, so I didn't mind too much. My stomach still felt queasy each time someone went to ask me something, but it was all useless worry. I didn't say anything and they didn't say ... I felt a bit cowardly for this. I just keep avoiding the problem.

The reason I say Naruto's packed full of surprises, though, is because he keeps pulling these unexpected moves. One day he reveals a jutsu I never expected him to know, another day he reveals one I _wished _he didn't know (and socked him in the arm for knowing), and the next he's giving wise advice to me that I definitely didn't expect _him_ to give me. I initially took him as this happy-go-lucky, loud mouth with a good heart and average abilities who doesn't think too much, but now I feel kind of stupid and guilty for just assuming that. Yeah, he's loud, happy-go-lucky, and has a good heart, but he's nicely above average when it comes to his abilities as a shinobi and he thinks more than most people give him credit for. That's undeniable.

I'm also starting to become curious about that blue-eyed boy. I keep hearing things around the village, little snippets from sly and hurtful whispers. There's always talk of a demon, the Kyuubi, I think, and how it's supposed to be sealed within Naruto, but he doesn't look like someone who's carrying a malicious demon. Of course, I should know by now not to judge people based on appearances.

It ticks me off, though. The people I hear hold such a hatred for the poor guy just because of this demon. As far as I can tell, he isn't influenced by it, nor is he a bad person. Naruto is just like any other genin in Konoha; he isn't any different, and he's a really good person. He doesn't deserve to be scorned for something that he has no control over. It's just like when the villagers were worried that my clan would make their nightmares come true for no reason and drove us out.

It isn't fair and it's simply frustrating.

I never brought up the whole demon thing in front of Naruto, though, and I didn't ask anyone else about it, either. Naruto would tell me when he wanted to (if he actually knew about it; I had no idea), and it wasn't my place to try and find out about it on my own when he was refraining from asking about my family. So I just left it alone.

The date for my family's funeral was set; it was going to be held in two days. Tsunade-sama said she and a few others that knew my parents would be attending and that I could invite people if I wished to. I wasn't sure if I should, though. I mean, I would love to have Kakashi, Naruto, and the others there with me, but would they feel comfortable in that situation? We had only known each other for a few months and I hadn't even told them about my family and what was going on with me. I was being so secretive while they were being open with me for the most part. I suppose there wasn't any point in hiding the truth about my family anymore, but I was still afraid of how those three would react.

Kakashi's statement had also struck a chord with me. I wanted to ignore it, deny the fact that I was only running away from my problems, but he was right, and so was Tsunade. By bottling everything up and avoiding my friends, I was hurting myself by ignoring the problem and running away from it. Nothing good was going to come out of it. Nothing good _could _come out of it. Of course, that doesn't make facing the problem any less scary, but maybe… Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Once I confronted everything, maybe I could truly be mended.

Kanae was out (on another mission, no doubt. She's not allowed to say, or something like that.), leaving me all alone in our home. I really missed the traditional style of my old house, but I couldn't really complain. Kanae was being awfully kind by taking me into her home, so I wasn't about to start bugging her about how the modern style didn't suit my tastes.

The pictures Sasuke had delivered to me that one day were resting on my bedside table, face down and pushed to the side to make room for the book I was reading. I hadn't dared to look at them the whole time they were in my possession because I was so afraid that the moment I was able to see the faces of my family members I would have a relapse and begin remembering all those horrible things. I didn't have a choice now. I had to see if any of the pictures were of Kazuya and Kazumi; there were pictures of my mother and father in the village's files, but they didn't have pictures of my younger siblings, probably because they were both only six, and from what I learned my father didn't contact the village very often. I didn't want to leave those two without pictures for their funeral.

Slowly I picked up the photos, taking in the first of the bunch. It was a photo of me, Kazumi, and Kazuya, grinning at the camera as we rested in the water of a lake. I smiled as I remembered the trip. We were traveling to our new home and on the third day of travel we'd stumbled upon a small lake. My brother and sister had begged and begged our father to stop early that day so we could go play in the lake, and with a little help from our mother, he finally gave in. The two youngsters, as usual, had been messing with me, trying their hardest to dunk me underneath the water, and my mother had found the perfect opportunity to shoot a photo of us. Kazuya had plopped himself down onto my head, his tummy resting on top and his arms splayed out in front of him to keep his balance with a mischievous grin resting on his features. His onyx locks were all messy, sticking up this way and that, and his amber eyes held innocence in them that only a child could have.

Kazumi, the shyer one of the two, was hugging my neck whilst looking back at the camera, curious as to what was going on (Don't be fooled; she wasn't actually hugging me; she was trying to pull me under the water by pulling me down!). Her hair was pulled into two high pigtails with her bangs swept the side. Her eyes, too, were amber. That was the trademark of the Shizuka clan, besides the abilities of our kekkai genkai.

I was looking up at Kazuya with amused amber eyes and a content smile. I was holding onto him to keep him in place for a few moments while our mother snapped the picture, my other arm wrapped around Kazumi. My own hair was an absolute mess, fiery tresses tangled and flying all over the place, including my bangs that were usually resting neatly above my eyebrows. We all looked so happy…

The next photo was of my father smiling proudly while I seemed to be laughing in joy and triumph, a small, grey kitten staring up inquisitively. I was about ten in that photo. After that one, there was a picture of Kazuya and Kazumi curled up together in the grass, sleeping and completely unaware of the world around them. I put that one to the side as a possibility for the funeral photo because I doubted I would be able to find one of just one of the two. Kazuya and Kazumi might as well have been born twins with the amount of time they always spent together.

There were many photos of my family that were funny (those were the ones my mother tended to keep most often), but it looked like the photo of Kazuya and Kazumi asleep would end up being the photo that would be used at the funeral. There was one last photo.

It was the one that released everything.

The picture included everyone. It was meant to be a family portrait, but things had gone a little wrong… Kazuya decided it was a good idea to shoot little fireballs just as the picture was being taken, so everyone had a surprised and/or frightened look on their faces. Everyone looked pretty much hilarious, even my father who always looked so serious and regal looked absolutely silly. His eyes were impossibly wide and his mouth was open, probably from a yell of surprise. I laughed as I remembered the event.

_"Alright, everyone! Three, two, one…" Her mother counted down, her classic smile lighting up her face._

_"**Chee-WAAAAH**!"_

_Several fireballs flew into the air, flying into every direction and barely missing some important items, and singeing the floorboards. Every family member's (with the exception of Kazumi who knew it was going to happen) eyes practically bugged out of their head, frightened yelps echoing through the room. The three older Shizuka clan members immediately swiveled their gazes to Kazuya who merely grinned in fake innocence. Ayaka almost began to laugh when she smelled something, and then brought her hair to her face._

_Laughter could be heard throughout the house as Kazuya ran away from one rather upset sister, whose hair had been singed by one of the many fireballs that had been conjured up by Kazuya. Kazumi giggled at the scene, her mother doing much the same, while her father scolded the young boy for using his jutsu in the house, and during the family photo no less. It was a wasted effort as the young boy continued to run away from his older sister, laughing until he could barely breathe. Eventually, even the father was left chuckling at the scene._

_At that one moment in time, everything seemed perfect, even with the burnt floors and singed hair._

Everything came rushing back to me, hitting me with a force that it had never had before. Thunder roared in the background, the weather seeming to match up with the sudden happening. All the hurt, all the pain, all the guilt… I remembered everything about that day. My brother and sister as they cried for someone to help them, my father as he held off the enemies, my mother's frantic cries to run away… It wouldn't stop playing over and over in my mind, forcing me to relive everything moment, everything feeling. It just wouldn't stop…

My hands slapped over my ears in a futile effort to silence all the yelling, all the shrieks. My eyes squeezed shut to try and stop the images. My mouth clamped closed to stop my cries. All of it was for naught.

I couldn't think straight, but I knew one thing, and that was that I didn't want to be in that house, all alone and without anyone there. I had played it tough around Kanae, claiming it was only my problem and that I didn't want anyone helping me, but that was only because back then I could handle it, and I knew that if I couldn't, that she would be there to comfort me. Now she wasn't, and I desperately needed someone to be there. It didn't matter who; I just needed someone to there to tell me it was going to be all right, that it wouldn't hurt one day, even if those were all lies. I needed someone to tell me it wasn't my fault, even if that was a lie, too. I just… I just needed _someone_.

My legs felt like jello, but I forced them to carry me outside, the pouring rain piercing my skin within seconds after stepping outside of the safety of my new home. The rain easily soaked through my black shorts and purple tank top, my fishnet shirt doing nothing to protect me. I didn't know where I was going, or who I was searching for exactly, but I just began running, pushing myself to go as fast as I possibly could. I raced through streets, nearly running into several people who probably only saw a blur running past. My legs began to hurt from being worked so hard; I hadn't run this fast since I had run away from my home.

My mind began to catch up with what was happening and I began to reason with myself. What was I doing out here in the rain? Who was I expecting to find? I didn't have any kind of plan as to what I was going to do now that I was out here and running. I had let my need for comfort fuel me, let it mess with my mind. I suddenly felt very foolish and very childish. What kind of kunoichi was I, letting my emotions control me like that? My father would be disappointed, were he here to witness my actions. He had always taught me to never let such things cloud my judgment, had reminded me nearly every day, had caused me to not speak to him for a week because of it, and here I was completely ignoring his lesson. What was I thinking?

I began to slow down, now utterly lost within the maze that was the village Konoha. Where was I? Certain things in this area looked familiar, but they didn't give me even an inkling of where I was now. Feeling about ready to start crying all over again, I sat down on some steps, resting my head in my hands as I tried to put myself back together, only to realize it was much more difficult than I had expected it to be. All the pieces I had worked so hard to glue back together had been chipped apart again, the pieces smaller and harder to match up. This time I wasn't only broken; I was shattered.

My thoughts wouldn't clear up. Without anything other than finding my way back occupying my mind, the memories were left to flow endlessly, like one of those fountains where the water just keeps flowing even though it hits the bottom and you can't see the way for it to climb back to the top. It all wouldn't stop, no matter how much I tried to force it to. _Tsunade was right, _I smiled bitterly. _This was worse than facing it the first time._

The rain that had previously been beating upon my skin and chilling me to the bone stopped. At first I thought it was just the rain stopping itself, but then I realized I could still hear the sound of it splashing as it hit the ground, causing large puddles to form. My thoughts ceased to exist for a few blissful moments as I tilted my head upwards to see what was protecting me from the water, finding two concerned and curious blue orbs staring back at me.

"Naruto."

* * *

**Aha~! Naruto found Ayaka in the rain~! What's going to happen, I wonder? ;)**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! :) Annyeong~!**

**~~ 1000WTBS**


	13. Understood

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! **

**There's a good bit of fluff between Ayaka and Naruto in this one~! ;) It was a lot fun writing it, I shall say. I'm a little worried about whether or not I'm getting Naruto's character right in this one, but I tried my best! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.**

* * *

"Naruto."

"Ayaka-chan."

We just stared at each other for a few moments, taking in each others' appearance. Naruto was dressed in his usual orange outfit, slightly wet from the droplets of liquid pouring down on us, and a white plastic grocery bag in his left hand, the other hand holding the blue umbrella that currently shielded us both from the rain. He looked like himself, only a bit wet. _I _probably looked a mess. My eyes were probably red and puffy, my hair was most likely disheveled from the wind and rain, and I was soaking wet, my clothes sticking to my skin more so than usual. I suddenly felt embarrassed to be seen. _Why does everyone seem to have bad timing lately?_

The blonde that stood in front of me looked to be contemplating something for a few minutes, his eyes unfocused, before he gave me a bright smile, though his eyes clearly said he was worried. "C'mon, Ayaka-chan! You're gonna get sick if you sit out here. My place is just down the street."

Ah, that's why this place seemed vaguely familiar. This was the way to Naruto's home. I had visited there a few times to meet him so that we could walk to the training grounds together. I'd been really surprised when I found out that he lived by himself and realized he was just as alone as I was. He didn't have parents or siblings to live with. Even though I had really wanted to ask about it, I had held myself back. I still hadn't spoken to him about my family; why should I question him about his?

When I didn't respond at first, Naruto tugged me into a standing position, effectively snapping me out of my thoughts. I smiled sheepishly and began walking with him, staring at the ground in thought and embarrassment. It had been drilled into me to never show your true emotions, and because of that I really hated it when people caught me in a weak moment. What did Naruto think now that he'd seen me looking so weak? He probably thought that I _was _weak, showcasing my sadness in public like that. I was so caught up in berating myself that I almost didn't notice the sudden weight that appeared on my shoulders.

I shifted my gaze to my left, surprised to see Naruto looking straight ahead with an unreadable expression on his face after he placed his jacket around my shoulders. "You need more than I do, and I don't want you to end up sick. That would really suck."

"Thanks, Naruto-kun." A slight smile wove its way onto my face, even though it felt a little out of place after what had just happened.

Naruto's cheeks began to turn a light pink color as he smiled back as if to say "You're welcome!" He wasn't getting a cold because he gave me his jacket, was he?

"I'm okay! It's just a bit cold." The blonde grinned goofily down at me.

I began to take off his jacket. "I can give this back, then. I don't want you getting sick, too."

"Ah, no! It's fine, Ayaka-chan!" He stopped me, placing the jacket back to its original place on my shoulders. "Really, I'm fine. Like I said before, you need it more. You only have a tank top and shorts. I bet you're freezing!"

I felt my own face heat up. I wasn't used to someone caring for me like this. Otou-san was more of the "Suck it up, kid." kind of father and my mom just let him do as he wished because they, apparently, had come to an agreement long ago that my father would deal with all of my training and things related. She really only got to "spoil" me when I was having a rest day. Recently the people I'd met all seemed to care more about how I was, and it felt nice having someone care for me.

It didn't take too long to reach the apartment building Naruto lived in because, like he said, it was right down the road from where I had previously been sitting. During the whole walk we were silent, and usually I would have attempted to start a conversation of some sort, but the memories were still haunting me. I couldn't keep my focus on anything very long, so I doubted that would have been able to keep a conversation going. Whether Naruto noticed my behavior, I'm not sure, but he would probably notice pretty soon if he hadn't already. With certain things Naruto could be completely dense, but when it came to his friends, or people in general, he seemed like an expert. It was one of the things I hadn't expected.

Naruto laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head with his hand that was now free of his umbrella. "Sorry for the mess."

I just gave him another smile, which felt still felt weird. "It's alright. I'm pretty much unaffected by messes after living with my little brother." I didn't even notice the bit of information I let slip until I realized Naruto was staring at me in surprise. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just you never talked about your family before." Another smile plastered itself on his face. "I just bought some more ramen, so I'll cook some to warm us up, okay, Ayaka-chan?"

I simply nodded as I looked around his apartment. It was kind of cozy. "Sounds good."

"Oh, one sec," He ran off into what I assumed was his room, emerging a few minutes later with a pair of black sweatpants and a white t-shirt with an orange swirl in the middle of it, much like the one he was wearing. "Here, you can change into these."

"Thanks."

We both stood there for a few moments, an awkward silence enveloping the area. I cleared my throat, coughing into my hand while clutching the clothing in the other. "Um, where's the bathroom?"

"Oh! Over here."

The blue-eyed shinobi led me to a door that was right across from his room, quickly taking his leave afterwards to attend to the ramen. I smiled slightly once more. I really felt like I shouldn't be smiling right now, but Naruto manages to make me do so anyway.

I wasted no time in changing into the dry clothes, eager to get out of my sopping wet ones. They were really comfy, though the shirt was a bit big on me considering the fact my frame was smaller than Naruto's. The pants were only slightly big on me, and for once I was thankful of the big hips I had inherited from my mother (and had been teased about all the time from the person who gave them to me). Looking into the mirror I saw a pair of dull amber eyes staring back at me, and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was my reflection that I was seeing. How long had it been since I'd looked into a mirror? I don't think I had once looked into one since I had arrived in Konoha, and looking at myself now surprised me. My eyes that were usually so bright and lively were now dull and hollow, slightly red and puffy from my crying. My complexion was lighter even though I had begun to train heavily again, and only emphasized how red my hair was. My hair was limp and stuck to me head because of the water, just as messy and atrocious in appearance as I had assumed earlier. _I've… changed._

After doing my best to comb my waist-length hair out with my fingers (which was rather annoying due to the length), I made my way out of the bathroom, following the scent of ramen. Okay, so it was only about five steps or so to get to the kitchen, so that journey didn't really last all that long, but even so my mouth was watering at the prospect of a warm meal. Naruto was sitting at his table, just about to lift the cover of the instant ramen cup when he noticed me. His face lit up in a grin.

I shifted in place, slightly uncomfortable. Why was he grinning like that? "W-what?"

"Hehe, sorry, Ayaka-chan," He scratched the back of his head. "But you look kinda adorable."

My face turned bright red just as Naruto's did. It looks like that statement left his mouth before he could really stop it. "Um… Thanks, Naruto-kun."

I sat down across from him, concentrating heavily on the cup of instant ramen in front of me in order to try and calm myself. My stomach had suddenly become fluttery, I guess you could say. It was weird.

Another awkward silence descended upon us, the only sounds in the room being the sounds of noodles being slurped. I wanted to say something to break the silence, but what do I say? Should I explain why I was in the rain? Should I just pick a random topic? What was I supposed to say after such a comment?

Then I remembered the funeral and how I had wanted Naruto and the others to be there. The memories threatened to assault my mind again, but I pushed them away. I wasn't about to break down in front of him, no matter how much I had wanted someone to turn to earlier. What would my father say if I did that? Instead I cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and spoke as calmly as I possibly could.

Or attempted to.

What was supposed to be, "My family's funeral is in two days; would you mind coming?" turned into a jumble of muttered, inaudible words. Naruto cocked his head to the side, looking at me with big, curious blue orbs.

"Huh?"

I took a deep breath again, trying my hardest to keep my composure. "My family's…" I trailed off, taking another deep breath and noticing how Naruto's eyes became softer than before. "My family's funeral is in two days, and, well," I didn't realize how much it would hurt to admit aloud that my family was going to be buried soon. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming. Honestly, I'd appreciate if all of team seven and Kakashi could go, but I haven't gotten to ask the others. And I'm sorry if this is weird for you, but I-"

"I'll go," The blonde teen held my gaze, somehow making it impossible for me to look away. "And the others will, too, Ayaka-chan. We understand."

Even though I hated myself for doing so, I began to cry. I don't know what it was exactly that was making me cry. It could have been the reality of it all settling down upon me once more. Perhaps it was that I was relieved that the people I had befriended actually understood me, why I had acted the way I did around them, and that they weren't pushing me away like I feared. I don't know. All I know is that I was glad that out of all of team seven, I was glad it was Naruto who found me, and that it was Naruto who I asked to my family's funeral first.

Hands pulled me up and into a pair of arms, warmth surrounding me in a comforting hug. I wrapped my arms around the boy's torso, holding on as if I would float away if I let go. My cheek pressed against his chest, his chin resting comfortably on top of my head and his hand stroking my hair in a comforting gesture. We both simply stood there, neither letting go, nor wanting to. I could hear the steady beating of his heart and concentrated on it. It, along with what Naruto was already doing, helped to calm me down to the point where I was beginning to doze off in his arms. At that moment, I didn't really care that I had just shown weakness to someone. I just wanted to stay there in that position for a little while longer because it felt really nice. I didn't feel so hollow, so depressed. I felt safe, wanted, and a little happy. I managed a sleepy smile.

I think it was then that I began to realize he would be the one to put the pieces back together.

* * *

**Ayaka: o/o**

**Ahaha, yes.**

**Ayaka:...Jerk.**

**What?**

**Ayaka: You certainly love to put your characters in these kind of situations, don't you? Gosh, I feel bad for Sophie...**

**Hey, this is a romance! These things are to be expected.**

**Ayaka: You never ask us about them, though, you jerk!**

**Do I have to? I'm the author. Plus, you guys _obviously_ love the scenes secretly.**

**Ayaka: ...You're a jerk.**

**But you didn't deny it! Ha! Oh, what're you doing with that katana, Aya-chan- Oh, dear. O.O**

**Hehe, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! I gotta go now before I get seriously injured by my own creation, buh-bye~! ^o^**

**~~ 1000WTBS**


	14. A Promise

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! **

**Okay, so I'm super sorry if you don't like this chapter. It's about the funeral and involves a ton of angst (which I'm still deciding whether or not I enjoy writing...). I'm hoping I got Kakashi's character right in this, but he may be OOC; I'm not sure. I _think _everything's okay, but I'm not sure because I don't have much experience with funerals. I hope it's okay!**

**I'm also sorry if Ayaka seems like she's being a bit back and forth - One moment she's fine and dandy, the next she's all depressed and moody. I'm not sure if I made her out like that, but in case I did, sorry about that! **

**I'll stop delaying you guys from reading the chapter now!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.**

* * *

"Ayaka, it's your turn to speak."

My heart skipped a beat as Tsunade informed me that it was my time to perform my speech to those who were present at my family's funeral. I stood, frozen where I stood. I couldn't do this. What was I thinking when I agreed to make a speech? This was a mistake; I shouldn't have-

Naruto squeezed my hand reassuringly, giving me a slight smile of encouragement. I managed to return it the best I could, and began to make my way in front of the small crowd of people gathered for my family's funeral. I could do this. I _needed _to do this.

Everyone gazed at me patiently, probably knowing this was hard for me. "I love my family more than anything. They've always been there for me, supporting me, teasing me, comforting me…" I paused, taking a deep breath. "Family is something I value more than my own life. I feel like without a family, you'll fall. That's how I've always felt, and it probably won't change even with them gone. I know that my parents and my siblings can't ever come back, but I… I still have faith that they're still doing all the things they used to, only now I can't hear the words they're saying or see their actions. Perhaps it's silly of me, but I would like to believe that they're still here with me in spirit."

I sighed, mustering all the courage I could. "My family…" My eyes searched the crowd for familiar faces, easily spotting Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura, along with a few others I had befriended. "Died protecting me. Well, my parents, at least. My siblings were victims. They," I clenched my fists, attempting to push the memories to the back of my mind. "They died because they couldn't defend themselves yet and because I wasn't quick enough to save them."

I hung my head before looking back up, blinking back tears that were threatening to show themselves. "My family members sacrificed themselves for me. They didn't have to; I desperately wished they hadn't sometimes. Even so, I can't change what's happened. The only thing I can do now is make them proud, and make sure I don't let their sacrifices go in vain."

I made eye contact with each of the older shinobi present, lingering on Tsunade and Kakashi. "I plan to live up to my family's name, no matter what the future holds for me now."

I then turned to the four closed coffins behind me, taking the flowers I had picked out specifically for each of my family members. I placed a daisy on Kazumi's casket and a freesia on Kazuya's, smiling slightly as I remembered all the trouble the two managed to get into. The daisy stood for innocence and the freesia stood for spirited; I felt that the flowers fit the two youngsters rather well. On my mother's coffin, I placed a geranium, which stood for comfort. She had always been my main source of comfort throughout my life, and I would miss all those talks we had.

Lastly, on my father's coffin I laid a gladiolus that stood for strength of character. In every way, shape, and form, my father was strong. He was never one to falter, even in the toughest of situations, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he was at ANBU rank. He was someone I looked up to, and I hope that someday I can be as strong as he is.

On everyone's coffin, I laid some white clover, symbolizing my promise to them. I won't let them have died in vain; I will grow stronger, become someone they can be proud of. Even if it kills me, I will make sure the ones responsible for their deaths are punished. No matter what… This is my promise.

I stood to the side as everyone else placed *Michaelmas daisies on my family members' coffins. Every person, even those I didn't know, came up to me, giving me their condolences. It was a little awkward for me because I wasn't really sure how to react. Should I give a smile in thanks? Should I keep a straight face? Should I let my emotions show? I had no idea what to do.

All of team seven did different things besides shaking my hand and muttering a sad sorry under their breath. Kakashi patted me on the head, giving me a sad smile. Naruto hugged me tightly while telling me that he would help me in any way he could to get me stronger. Sakura surprised me by hugging me with a strength I didn't know she possessed and promising that she would always be around if I wanted to talk. I really appreciated it, actually. Kanae barely had time to talk with me lately because she seemed to be occupied by missions most of the time. She wasn't even able to attend the funeral because of them.

Sasuke's reaction probably shocked me the most, though. His eyes held emotions I had never seen him show before; he gazed at me with onyx eyes filled to the brim with sympathy, sadness, and what surprised me most: understanding. It was like the Uchiha knew exactly what I was currently going through, as if he, too, had experienced such tragedy. It made me rethink his character. Honestly, I didn't know a whole lot about Sasuke. Sure, I knew _him_, but who was he really? What had he gone through that allowed him to understand my pain so thoroughly?

Soon the funeral was over, and I watched with melancholy eyes as the coffins were taken to be buried. I didn't follow the people carrying them away because I didn't want to see my family lowered into the ground and covered with soil. I don't know how I would handle it, and truthfully speaking, I don't know how I managed to go through the whole funeral without blubbering like a baby. It was hard enough seeing their pictures because they only made it harder to keep the memories suppressed during the funeral. As it was, they were starting to creep their way back into my mind, clouding my vision with images I only wished I could forget. I could feel my eyes filling up with hot tears that were begging to be released, and clenched my fists and jaw, not allowing myself to show weakness while people were still around. I could see Hinata from the corner of my eye gazing at me with concern, along with her sensei, Kurenai. I forced a smile on my face to reassure her that I was fine, silently apologizing at the same time for lying to her. She smiled back, nodding at me and soon leaving with her sensei.

Soon everyone had left the room that the funeral had taken place in. Now I was the only one left. _Good. _I slowly sunk to my knees, my hands coming up to cover my face as the sobs began. My body shook uncontrollably with the force of my weeping, and I did my best to remain quiet. I didn't want anyone to see me like this. It wasn't right to worry others, especially after I had made myself out to be so strong and determined to grow for my family.

I tried to stop crying after a few minutes, but I couldn't stop, no matter how hard I tried to force myself to. The tears just kept streaming down my cheeks, the cries bursting forth from my mouth until I was nearly choking on them. Why wouldn't the memories stop replaying themselves? Why couldn't they leave me be? I understand that it's all my fault, that I deserve punishment, but I would rather endure a thousand deaths than experience my family's slaying over and over again. Could life not pay me a little mercy?

Arms wrapping around my quivering form startled me, and I nearly attacked the person holding me. I tried to push away, my sight still blurred because of the still flowing tears, but the person held me tightly, shushing me. I recognized the voice immediately.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" I inquired hoarsely into his jonin vest, slightly unsure of myself.

"Yes, it's me."

His confirmation only made me cry harder. I felt so relived that someone had come back to check on me, but at the same time I felt ashamed to let him see me this way. I pushed those feelings to the back of my mind, though, and just let everything I'd been feeling out. That's why Kakashi was here, right? To comfort me? Hopefully he wouldn't mind me pouring my heart out to him.

But before I opened my mouth to say anything, the thought of being a burden to him came to mind. I didn't want to trouble him with revealing how much their deaths still hurt me. Kakashi has other things to worry about, I'm sure. Who was I to put more on him?

"You know, Ayaka-chan, it's okay to feel sad. No one is going to judge you for it."

I muttered something that I was sure he couldn't make out.

"I knew your father somewhat. I met him a few times. He was a good man, and he was a tough teacher. I know that he probably taught you to never show your emotions to others because it only shows weakness, but in this case, it's okay. I think even he might have agreed."

I tried to say something else, but it only came out in a jumble of incoherent words.

I could tell the silver-haired man was smiling. "No, Ayaka-chan. No one thinks badly of you because of what happened to your family."

"But," I clutched his vest a little more tightly than before. "I left them. I abandoned them."

Kakashi pulled away, placing his hands on my shoulders and locking eyes with me. "Listen, Ayaka," I almost flinched at how serious his tone had become. "There's a large difference between abandoning and obeying wishes. Your parents wanted you to leave; you didn't choose to leave. I'm confident in the thought that, had you been given a choice, you would have stayed and fought with them. You aren't to blame and you have nothing to feel guilty about."

"He only sent people after us because of _me! _I don't even know why he wants me, but he does. If I hadn't been stupid and wandered into the village that day, he never would have known about me! It's all my fault!"

Kakashi's face told me he was shocked. By what, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe my outburst; I've never been this way towards him before. "They're only dead because of me. I have no right to complain about something that I've caused. I have no right to burden others with my problems." I looked down, unable to meet his eyes anymore. "I don't deserve to be fixed."

The next thing I knew I was being pulled up so that I was standing. Kakashi kept me close, making sure my eyes were covered before transporting us someplace. I couldn't see where because my face was buried in his vest, but soon I saw that we were in a clearing with a large black stone in the middle, numerous names carved into the sides. I recognized it almost immediately; all Konoha ninja that have been killed in action have their names carved into that stone. Why did Kakashi bring me here of all places?

Kakashi and I stood side by side as we both gazed sadly at the stone. There was a long silence before the jonin began to speak.

"A friend of mine has his name etched on this stone."

I looked up at the man who reminded me of my father in surprise.

"He died to save me. I would have been crushed by a boulder, but he pushed me out of the way and took the hit instead."

I remained silent, unsure if I should say anything in response. Kakashi looked down at me. "Our situations are similar; we both have loved ones that died to protect us. It wasn't our choice, but their's. You need to understand that you aren't to blame, Ayaka. You also need to know that even if you hadn't gone into that village, Orochimaru would have found you eventually, even with your father's skill at remaining hidden. Your parents wanted it to be this way, and now all that's left is for you to live up to their memory. Keep your promise and become stronger, live up to your family name."

He smiled at me, placing his hand on top of my head, a gesture he seemed to become fonder of each time he did it. "I know it's hard for you to accept all of this right now, Ayaka-chan, but you have friends who care about you and who understand what you're going through. Lean on them for support, let them help you. You'll be okay."

My eyes became watery again as I gazed up at his smiling face, taking his words to heart, but at the same time unable to accept them fully. I would try my best to do as he said, even though I still couldn't help blaming myself. I didn't just feel responsible for my parents' deaths, but my siblings' as well. I wasn't quick or strong enough to save them. That couldn't be counted as not my fault.

Hearing Kakashi's words, though, I felt a renewed eagerness to keep to my promise. I would get stronger, no matter what it took.

Even if I was shattered, I wouldn't give up.

* * *

***Michaelmas daises stand for farewell, which is why they were used.**

**Hehe, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! **

**~~ 1000WTBS**


	15. Just Let It Out

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! **

**I apologize for the wait, but, once again, writer's block decided to keep me from my writing. It was extremely frustrating, but I did manage to get this chapter out (finally!). I kind of like this chapter because in this one, Ayaka isn't just acting sad, she starts to feel frustrated and confused about her situation (and I much prefer having her angry than sad. I feel bad making her like that all the time.). I'm kind of tired of her being sad so often, so I'm about ready to have Naruto beat some sense into her! And gosh, angst is a little emotionally draining, I'd say. Never knew it would be this much work. -_-' But it has been fun writing for you guys, so I don't really regret it! Just don't be surprised if I have her get a good talking-to within the next couple of chapters.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.**

* * *

"Once, Ayaka-chan?"

"No."

"Pleeeeaaaase, Ayaka-chan?"

"No."

"Just one time, Ayaka-chan!"

"I said no, Naruto! Goodness!"

I gave an exasperated sigh and gazed at Naruto with an irritated expression. Naruto did _not _know when to give up. Admirable? Yes. Annoying at times? Oh yeah.

"But Ayaka-chan, don't ya wanna know what Kakashi-sensei looks like under his mask?" Naruto whined, walking in front of me.

"Yeah, but I'm not about to risk mouth to mouth actually occurring, Naruto!"

The blonde rolled his eyes. "But nothing will 'cause we'll stop him before anything does! It's gonna take more than a few seconds to do it, Ayaka-chan. He'll have his mask off long enough for us to see his face, but we'll be able to stop him before he actually has to do anything."

I scowled, contemplating Naruto's plan. He and the rest of team seven were trying their hardest to find out what Kakashi looked like underneath his mask, and so far, all of their attempts had failed. Their current plan was to get me to pretend I'm drowning so that Kakashi has to save me and perform CPR on me, thus revealing his face because he can't very well do CPR with a mask on. It's a pretty good plan, but why do _I _have to be the one who 'drowns?'

"Why can't you or one of the others fake drowning?"

"Because Kakashi-sensei knows us too well. He knows all of us can swim. The plan would never work if it was one of us, but he doesn't know you as well, yet. There's no way for him to know if you can swim or not."

Well, dang. I was hoping his reason would be a weak one.

I sighed, tugging at the ends of my hair. The possibility of Kakashi's lips touching mine was one of the main reasons I didn't want to do it (that would be seriously weird. He's what, twenty-six? He was older than I am now when I was born!), but what I would be faking was also a serious matter, and I didn't want to worry Kakashi and then reveal it was all a ploy to see his face. To pretend to have a near death experience isn't right in my eyes.

I sighed again, tugging harder at my hair. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but the risk isn't one I like, and I don't like the thought of toying around with Kakashi-sensei's emotions."

"But _Ayaka-chan~!_"

"_Naruto,_" I glared at the persistent blonde who looked surprised at my tone and expression. "I'm not going to pretend to nearly die and make a joke out of it. _Leave me alone._"

I felt bad snapping at him, but I wasn't in the best of moods after he kept pestering me about helping him with his plan, and all the talk about near death experiences was bringing up painful memories that I didn't want to dwell on. Even though Kakashi had spoken with me and I no longer felt completely responsible for my parents' deaths, I still felt responsible for my siblings' deaths. They were so helpless, and I couldn't do anything, didn't even get the chance to attempt to help them. Kazuya and Kazumi… They're gone because of me.

After snapping at Naruto, I walked off, not wanting to stick around when my guilt was starting to eat away at me, though judging from the thoughtful and sad look on his face, I think Naruto knew what was on my mind. I half expected and wanted him to run after me, but I denied myself any chance of that by using a teleportation jutsu, disappearing and reappearing in my bedroom in a cloud of smoke. I shook myself as I stood there, gazing at the pictures of my family that I had framed and hung on the baby blue walls and struggling to keep a hold of the happier memories that were slowly being overcome by the ones I wanted to forget. As usual, it was no use.

I growled and clenched my fists into tight balls, no doubt drawing blood, and cursed under my breath in frustration. What was wrong with me? Why was I like this? Why couldn't I just move on? This whole time, even though I've spoken of becoming stronger so I can avenge my family, I've been nothing but weak. If I can't get a grip on my own emotions, then what kind of kunoichi am I? Even if I've been broken and shattered, I should tough it out, suck it up, bear and grin it, not act like a helpless little girl who can only cry for her family. Hot tears began to stream down my cheeks, which only made me clench my fists harder.

The worst part about it is that I suck at hiding it from others. Sure, those who haven't a clue as to who I am don't notice my true feelings, but to everyone else it's as clear as a summer day. No matter how much I smile and joke around, they all seem to notice that I'm not acting quite right. How long has it been since their deaths now? Four months? And I still act so weak! This goes against everything I've ever been taught from my father. What would he think? What would my entire family think if they were to see me right now? They'd probably be disappointed.

Even though I'm trying my hardest, I just can't seem to glue those pieces back together. I feel like I'm always going to be this way, broken and unable to fix myself. I don't want that.

Why does Orochimaru want me anyways? What is so special about me that he would kill my whole family just to get me? What could I possibly have that he wants? My kekkai genkai isn't any different from any other Shizuka clan member's, and it certainly isn't the strongest out there. I don't have any special abilities, nor do I know any rare jutsu that would interest him. I'm just a kid, worthless to him at my stage.

"Damn it…" I clenched my teeth, bowing my head as I glared at the floor. "Damn it all… WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT ME, HUH?" I yelled furiously at the ceiling, the tears hot and angry as they continued to dribble down my cheeks.

Not wasting a moment I rushed out of my house, jumping roof to roof to get where I wanted to be without having to encounter anyone. Glancing down to my right I caught a glimpse of Hinata with her team, and she turned her head up and to the left, locking eyes with me for a split second before I was gone, already two roofs ahead.

Hinata was a nice girl, timid and quiet, but nice. She was easy to befriend when I bumped into her by accident at a bookstore I wandered into one day, searching for something good to read while Kanae wasn't around. We ended up having a long conversation about our favorite novels and our most hated novels, which resulted in several more meetings later on, even a training session or two together. I had met her team, too, but I wasn't very close with her sensei or her teammates, though Kiba was starting to grow on me.

Nearly slipping off of a roof tore me away from my thoughts and forced me to concentrate on my previous goal: getting to the training grounds. I had to let out all of these pent up emotions somehow, and it wasn't going to be through venting to someone. How could anyone understand how I felt right now, anyway? As far as I knew, no one else had lost their entire family, and because of them, no less. No one else had a murderous snake after them for reasons that they didn't know about. No one else had been broken and then shattered, unable to put the pieces back together properly.

No matter how I looked at it, I felt completely and utterly alone.

Upon entering the training ground, I immediately got to work, kicking and punching at a tree trunk, not even noticing the explosions of pain that sprouted in my legs, feet, and hands. My determination to release all of the anger, all of the hurt, all of the frustration, kept me from noticing anything around me except for the tree trunk and my actions. It wasn't until I felt something warm begin to drip down my hands that I became aware of the excruciating pain that I had brought upon myself. I allowed myself to fall backwards onto the grassy floor, wincing at the rough landing. My legs hurt too much to stand up anymore, and my hands were bleeding from punching the rugged bark of the tree. I was so stupid; why didn't I wrap my legs and hands with padding? I have that exam tomorrow, too.

I sat up, fighting off the fatigue that was attempting to claim both my body and mind. My hands protested at having pressure put upon them, but I ignored it, pushing myself up so that I was crouching. I nipped my thumb to draw blood, swiping it across my palm and performing a few hand signs before clapping it onto the ground, a poof of smoke blinding me. The smoke invaded my lungs, causing me to cough and fan it away from my face. Why must there always be smoke after you summon something?

Daichi sat before me, grinning mischievously before he realized the state I was in, his expression turning into a somber and slightly concerned one.

"Hey, kid, you okay?"

I rubbed away any traces of tears from my face and nodded. "Yeah. It's nothing to worry about. Would you mind taking me to the hospital, though? I overdid it again."

"Sure thing." Daichi crouched down low. "Get on."

I slowly climbed onto Daichi's back, trying to keep the pain to a minimum. I gripped onto his spotted fur and directed him to the hospital, asking him to run as fast as he possibly could. I didn't want anyone spotting me and asking what happened to me. I didn't want anyone to worry and I didn't want to explain myself. For once, I just wanted everyone to leave me alone.

The nurses immediately got to work on me, setting me up in one of the many rooms. It was a temporary set up because I didn't do much damage to myself; my hands just needed to be bandaged and I had fractured my right leg. One of the nurses told me I was lucky that I had only fractured my right leg and that I needed to take it easy for the next few days to make sure that my bones were okay before training again. Well, that's just great. What am I going to tell Naruto and the others when I can't train with them?

"Someone will be with you to heal that fracture in a moment, Shizuka-san. Just sit tight for bit, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." I smiled politely, laying myself down on the bed.

Daichi, who I had yet to release (much to the displeasure of the nurses), flicked his tail back and forth, looking at me with a calculating gaze he rarely used as he sat by my bedside. It unnerved me a bit, being stared at so intensely by the cheetah. He usually was cracking jokes by now, teasing me and trying his best to get a reaction.

"Kid, something is going on with you. I get it that you're still hurting and everything, but I would have expected you to be okay by now, or at least okay enough to not be breaking down anymore. What is it? What's holding you back?"

His sudden words startled me, causing me to jump, and I noticed his face twitched into a slight grin. I turned my head to the side so Daichi couldn't see my face. "What are you going on about, Daichi? I'm perfectly fine. I just overdid it again. I did that all the time before."

"Yeah, but not with tears staining your face in the process, and certainly not with so little care for how your body ended up."

I shifted uncomfortably in the bed. He had a point. "So I hurt myself a little. Accidents happen. I'm fine."

"Don't give me that crap, Ayaka," The feline growled, his fur bristling slightly. "Something is eating at you, and it isn't just the ordinary sadness that accompanies the death of a loved one. I'm guessing it's something that happened back then, right?" It was easy to guess what he meant by 'back then.'

I remained silent, not wanting to open my mouth for fear that the angry tears would start up again and that he would be able to hear them.

Daichi sighed at my silence. "Look, I don't know what exactly happened to you and your family; all I know now is that they're gone, you're alone, and you need somebody to be there for you, more often than that Kanae chick that's so busy nowadays. Go ask your Hokane, or whatever it's called, to assign you a guardian that can be around more often, someone that can act as a parent figure. Kanae was more of the sisterly type anyways, and you really don't need a sibling figure because of those other kids you befriended. You need a parent to guide you through what you're feeling right now."

Silence enveloped the room for a few minutes as I regained my composure, turning my head to face Daichi and smiling once I had. "Thanks, Daichi. Maybe I will talk to the _Hokage_," I purposely stressed the word, sniggering at Daichi as he turned his face away in a huff. "And see about staying with someone else for now. It has been harder for me since Kanae became busier. I'm sorry to make you worry."

"I'm not-"

"Yeah, you are. If you weren't, you would have been teasing me about being stupid and injuring myself like you have in the past. That or you would be off tormenting the nurses while waiting on me."

"Whatever… Just get better, okay?"

I smiled, calling him over to have him curl up with me on the hospital bed (which turned out to be more difficult than I had expected; I had forgotten how big Daichi is!). He nuzzled his face into the underside of my chin, flicking his tail back and forth and purring as he settled himself next to me. I curled myself against him and hugged his body, relishing in the comforting warmth Daichi gave off. Daichi, as troublesome as he was, was one of my closest - no, he _was_ my closest friend. Even if he could be infuriating, childish, and difficult, he always seemed to know exactly what to do or say. I really appreciated that.

"I… I will. Promise."

~FTBG~

Gosh, Daichi's a hazard to my health even when he's _asleep_... Nearly crushed me when he tried to roll over, the troublesome cat. I sighed. Stupid cheetah made me have to pay the doctors more to patch up my arm after that! Then what does he do? Starts to laugh about it _right in front of me!_ Sadistic bast-

"Ayaka-chan~!"

I barely had time to turn around before I was tackled by the one and only hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja himself, sending the both of us to the ground. Naruto hugged my waist, rubbing his cheek upon my own as he wailed about how he was sorry and that he shouldn't have pushed me when I didn't want to do it. Chuckling, I patted his head.

"What in the world, Naruto? What're you jabbering about?" I asked, pushing us up so that we were now sitting across from each other on the street in front of my house.

"I kept pushing you to go with the plan when you didn't want to, and Bushy Brows told me he saw you beating the crap out of a tree, and then Sakura said she saw you at the hospital, so I assumed you had to treat your arms and legs from hitting the tree, and then one of your neighbors said she heard you yelling something, so I-"

I leaned forward and clamped my hand over Naruto's mouth, grinning. "So you assumed I did all of that because I was so angry at you for pestering me? Goodness, Naruto, I think all of those compliments I've been giving you have made you vain! Not everything revolves around you, ya know!"

His face reddened as he pouted, turning his head away from me and crossing his arms with a huff. "I just thought that because you seemed so angry when you walked away earlier, and then you poofed away without giving me a chance to say anything, so I thought you were _really _mad at me. So I just assumed…"

"*Bakage, do you honestly believe I could stay angry at you? I'm not gonna be _that _angry over being bothered unless you were being a real jerk."

"Then, what _were_ you so angry about, Ayaka-chan?" Naruto gazed at me curiously.

I sighed, laying down and placing my arms over my eyes. "There's just some stuff that really confuses me and some stuff I know that frustrates me. Combined with everything I've been feeling recently, I just needed some way to let it all out, and I wasn't about to go bother someone with my venting, so I headed to the training grounds, and as you said, 'beat the crap out of a tree.' Who's 'Bushy Brows', by the way?" I grinned at the last part.

"I'll introduce you to him later, but Ayaka-chan,"

"Hmm?"

I felt my arms being lifted away from my face and found myself staring up at two deep pools of water. Naruto's brow furrowed, giving me that serious look he tended to give me whenever I was feeling down. "You don't have to feel like you'd bother someone if you vented to them. Me, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and even Sasuke," I didn't miss the quickly muttered "I think," which succeeded in causing a slight smile to grace my features. "None of us would mind listening to you. We know you're hurting, and I don't think any of us would mind being there to hear what you have to say."

"But I'd just worry you guys,"

"That's what friends are for! To worry about you when no one else seems to, to give you that shoulder of support," Naruto grinned widely. "So just depend on us now, okay, Ayaka-chan? Ya can't go wrong with four shoulders to support you!"

My eyes watered slightly and I hastily at them, sitting up and matching Naruto's wide grin. "I'll try. I mean, I've only ever depended on myself and my family. I never really had anyone else to lean on since we secluded ourselves. I'll definitely try, though."

Naruto blinked at me, surprise obvious in his eyes. "You mean it was always just you and your family?"

"Yep, me, the parents, and the mischievous younger siblings," I brought my knees to my chest, hugging them and laying my cheek against them. I allowed my gaze to fall to the ground. "It was always just the five of us."

"Ayaka-chan…"

I looked up to see Naruto gazing back sadly, so I smiled to reassure him, even if I didn't full heartedly mean it. "I'm fine, Naruto-kun! I miss them like crazy, but I'm okay, really. You don't need to worry so much."

"You're _not _okay, Ayaka-chan," The blonde brought his hand to my cheek, wiping a stray tear I hadn't noticed from my cheek. My face heated up slightly at the action. "You're still sad. Don't try so hard to hide it; I've been there. If you're sad, then say you're sad. If you're angry, then say you're angry. I'll," He paused, locking eyes with me. I swear my heart skipped a beat. "We'll _all _help you. Even Sasuke's a bit worried."

I chuckled as I heard another badly whispered "I think," leave Naruto's lips. "You're really bad at whispering, ya know that?"

"As bad as you are at hiding how you feel!" He shot back.

"Hey, if I hadn't cried, I woulda had you fooled!"

"Nuh uh," He shook his head. "I still would've been able to tell."

I tilted my head in confusion. "How? I mean, I know I'm bad at acting, but I thought I sounded pretty convincing…"

"Well, Ayaka-chan," Naruto grinned playfully. "You only call me 'Naruto-_kun,_' when you're upset or embarrassed."

"…Dang."

* * *

***Bakage, I do believe, is similar to 'baka,' so it can mean many things like stupid, idiot, etc, but here it's supposed to mean silly. Sorry for the random thrown in Japanese word; I felt like putting that in there (plus putting plain ol' 'silly' sounded weird to me. 'Bakage' gives the sentence a better sound to me).**

**I suddenly really love Daichi~! X3 I decided to give him a bigger role than just that of the annoying summoning that messes with Ayaka all the time. I rather like his character~! And tell me, who would _you _like to see become Ayaka's new guardian? Maybe I'll make it a voting thing...**

**I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with the last scene with Naruto, but I think I can live with it. I wanted to make the ending a little lighter and put in some more AyaxNaru since I haven't done a whole lot with those two yet. I also didn't want to leave them alone right after Ayaka snapped at Naruto; I wanted to patch things up in a slightly comedic, kinda mushy way. Can I assume it was a success? And did anyone else notice Ayaka's habit of calling Naruto 'Naruto-kun' whenever she felt upset or embarrassed? I don't think I used it a lot, but it was there! Haha, fun little detail~!**

_**IMPORTANT!**_** Do you guys want me to go all the way with this story? Not just write till Naruto and Ayaka end up together, but write about her part in the rest of the story line? If I do, I'll probably write for this story until the end of the first part of Naruto, and then create a sequel that entails all of Shippuden. Send me a review and tell me what you think! :)**

**Another note!**** Summer vacation is gonna end for me somewhere towards the beginning of August (I think the 4th, but I'm not sure), and that will mean I won't be updating as often. I will try to update as often as I can, though. Perhaps once a week at least? Who knows, but I shall try my best for you guys! I just wanted to give you all a heads up.**

**Sorry for such a long author's note! ^^'**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! **

**~~ 1000WTBS**


	16. Team Seven and Training

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! **

**This chapter is a lot happier than the previous ones have been, plus you get to see a bit of Ayaka fighting (woo~!). I feel a little weird making Ayaka act so happy in this chapter, but she can't always be sad, right? There are gonna be moments when she won't have all the bad stuff on her mind, and this shows some of that. There's also a bit here and there where I felt the sentence felt weird or the dialogue didn't seem quite right, but I wanted to get this chapter out real badly. Sorry if anyone's OOC!**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.**

* * *

"IdiditIdiditIdidit! Wahooo~!"

"I assume something good happened today?"

I paused mid-twirl to grin widely at the older man that stood behind the counter at Ichiraku's Ramen. "You bet! I'm officially a ninja starting today! Look, I got my forehead protector, too!" I lifted up the blue headband that I had tied around my neck so that he could get a better look at it.

"Congrats, Ayaka-san! How about a bowl of ramen to celebrate?"

"Sure! I'll have…" I thought for a second. "Miso ramen this time. Thanks, Ichiraku-san!"

The cook simply smiled and walked away to begin preparing the ramen.

I can't believe it; I'm really a kunoichi now! It feels so good to be recognized as one finally. I've wanted this for so long, and now I've gotten exactly what I wanted! The only thing that would make this better would be if _they _were here, or at least Naruto and the others.

A long, woeful sigh came from my right as a body plopped down in the seat next to me. "Hey, Ayaka-chan."

Speak of the devils. "Ah, Naruto, Sakura-chan, Sasuke. Did you guys just get back from that mission?"

As Sasuke had taken the seat on my other side, Sakura took the seat next to him. The pink-haired girl let out a sigh much like Naruto's and propped her elbows on the counter and held her face. "Yeah. Kakashi-sensei is something else…"

I tilted my head. "Something else?" I furrowed my brow before I remembered what they had been trying to do the day before. "Oh, yeah! Did you guys get to see what was under Kakashi-sensei's mask? I heard from Ayame-chan that he's pretty handsome."

"Underneath his mask…" Sasuke began, scowling at nothing like he tended to do. I leaned in out of anticipation. Had they really gotten to see what his face looked like? Were they disappointed by what they saw? Is that why they're so upset? "Was another mask."

I nearly fell out of my seat. "Are you kidding me? Seriously?"

The three nodded their heads glumly, giving their orders to Ayame who was smiling and as cheerful as always.

"I guess we should come to expect that sort of thing from Kakashi-sensei, ne?" Laughing slightly, I shook my head. "But really? Another mask? I wonder if he knew what you guys were up to the whole time."

"He didn't act like he knew we were trying to get a look. Kakashi-sensei seemed like he really was oblivious to everything we were doing. Even ruined that meal…" Naruto's eyes watered and I coughed in an attempt to cover up my laugh. Luckily, the blonde didn't catch it at all.

"Well, if he honestly didn't know and he really just wears a second mask, then that's… that's kind of weird," I paused as I was handed my ramen. "Okay, not really even kinda. It _is _weird."

"What'sweird, Ayaka-chan?'

We all jumped in fright, eyes wide and mouths open in silent screams. Oh, don't tell me he's right behind me…

I turned around to meet one lazy eye that almost seemed like it was laughing at me. Yep, Kakashi was right behind me. Crap.

I laughed nervously, scratching the back of my head as I smiled innocently at the jonin. "Oh, uh…" Come on, think! What else is weird? "Um, how unusually easy the academy's exam seemed to be! Took me about two minutes to do!"

His eye widened slightly in realization. "Oh, that's right; you had your exam today. By your previous statement and the fact you're wearing your headband, I assumed everything went well?" Walking over to the seat next to Naruto, the silver-haired man sat himself down and looked back at me expectantly.

"Yeah," I grinned, fingering the headband. "They just had me do a simple clone jutsu, and then they tested me on a few other things just to see where I was. Though they haven't placed me on a team, yet."

That one eye closed as Kakashi smiled (I think…). "Congratulations, then! Now you can call yourself a shinobi."

"Thanks!"

"Now you can go on missions with us!" The blue-eyed boy stated with excitement as he grinned.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, too."

"I'm kind of hoping you get placed on our team, Ayaka-san."

I glanced over to Sakura who was smiling softly as she poked around at her ramen, caught off guard by her statement. "Sakura-chan…"

"I mean, it would be nice not to be the only girl on the entire team, you know. Especially when dealing with that knucklehead over there…"

"Sakura-chan~!"

I could only grin as Naruto and Sakura began to go back and forth. I really wouldn't mind being placed on team seven, either. I know them better than anyone else in the village and we all get along pretty well. We train well together, too. I don't see a problem in being teammates with them, so maybe I'll ask Tsunade about it.

"Maybe I'll ask about it, then, so long as everyone is okay with it."

Naruto and Sakura nodded while Kakashi continued to read a book that he had taken out at one point or another, and Sasuke remained silent, continuing to eat his ramen. "Kakashi-sensei? Sasuke? What do you guys think? Is it okay?"

Kakashi turned the page. "Ma, if those three are okay with it, I don't see a problem."

I grinned for the umpteenth time and turned to Sasuke, turning on the puppy dog charm. "What about you, Sasuke-kun~?"

I held back my laughter as the onyx-haired shinobi choked on his ramen, quickly taking the glass of water offered to him by Ayame and gulping it down. He let out a breath and turned to me, eyebrow twitching slightly. "As long as you never do that again and you don't hold us back, I don't mind."

"Thank you!" I gave him a quick squeeze and spun around in my seat, arms thrown up into the air in a cheering gesture, earning several weird looks from my friends and from bystanders. I sheepishly grinned and pushed my index fingers together. "Ah, sorry. I was really worn out this morning, so I kinda loaded up on the caffeine and sugar."

"I like this hyper Ayaka-chan!" Naruto gave me a thumbs up and grinned, but then pouted suddenly. "But why is always Sasuke who gets the special treatment, huh? He's not the only one who said yes, ya know." He crossed his arms and I found myself chuckling at the blonde.

"Naruto…" My amber eyes glinted with slyness. "Are you _jealous_?"

His face heated up. "No, I'm-"

"It does seem that way, Naruto." Kakashi turned the page again, an amused expression on his face.

"But I'm not-"

"It doesn't matter!" I smiled and hugged Naruto, squeezing him tightly for a few seconds before letting go. "There, happy? I even hugged you longer than I did Sasuke." I probably would have blushed at my boldness, but I was feeling much too hyper to really care.

"Y-yeah."

"Hmph, are you blushing, dobe?"

"Shut up, teme!"

The two boys then proceeded to argue, shooting insults back and forth as Kakashi and Sakura attempted to stop them. I just laughed.

No, I wouldn't mind being on team seven one bit.

~FTBG~

"Again."

"But Kakashi-sensei…"

"Again, Ayaka."

I sighed, preparing myself for what was to come. Kakashi had me sparring with Sasuke without giving me any breathers. He said that the problem I had developed was a loss of stamina and I depended too much on my summonings to fight. I had noticed my loss of stamina, too, but I hadn't really ever taken notice of my dependence upon my summonings. I suppose I do depend on them a bit too much, though. I used them the most whenever I had to spar with my dad, and I've used them a lot when fighting with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. I guess it's because I know I'm good at summoning, so I stick to it and use it the most. I'm not as good at things like taijutsu as I am with my summonings.

Sasuke shot towards me, making a motion as if he was about to kick my left side before he went for my right. I blocked his leg, grabbing onto it and lifting him so that he flipped over my head, though he wrenched himself out of my grip so that he landed safely on his feet. Spinning around, I aimed a kick for his head and found myself in the same position Sasuke had just been in, wincing at the pressure he applied to my left leg and promptly kicking his shoulder with my right. The onyx-haired boy released me, out of pain or surprise, I'm not sure, and I used his shoulder as support to launch myself a few feet away from him.

I crouched on the ground, favoring my left leg while trying to look like I was only trying to work out a plan. It had only been two days since I had been careless with my body, and the bruises were still fresh. To cover them up I had bandaged my legs; a lot of people did that, and no one seemed to question it.

Deciding to launch the first attack this time, I quickly performed a few hand signs, smiling at the familiar sensation of water encircling my hands. I flexed my hands, taking a good look at the claws that had formed to make sure they had shaped themselves correctly. It's been a while since I've used this jutsu, but hopefully I won't have any trouble with controlling the water.

"Ah, that's…"

I turned my head back to grin at Kakashi. "Yep, it's water claw."

He raised his eyebrow. "That's not an easy jutsu; I'm a little surprised you know it."

"Well, my dad didn't go easy on me during training. He liked to make me bite off more than I could chew and then force me to adjust so that I _could _chew it. But it really isn't that hard," I rotated my wrists a bit, getting used to the feel of having the water clinging to my skin. "It just requires a lot of chakra control."

Then I was slashing at Sasuke with my new claws, twirling around in a deadly dance as fluid as the water that covered my hands. It felt good fighting with water claw again, but as I mentioned earlier, I'm having a problem with my stamina, and water claw takes a lot of control and drains your chakra pretty easily if you're not careful. With my tiring body and the water beginning to lose its solid shape, it was easy for Sasuke to find an opening.

But _why _did he have to _punch _me in the _stomach_?

I coughed as I doubled over the onyx-haired shinobi's fist, the water that had been desperately clinging to my hands splashing onto the ground. Sasuke, choosing to be nice to me, helped me to stand up properly while I tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of me. My arms were beginning to hurt from all of the blocking and striking, and my legs were aching from being used for so long. Before I could ignore it, but now that there isn't a fight to distract me, they freaking _hurt._

"Again."

I sighed, knowing I couldn't let this continue on for much longer. "Kakashi-sen-"

"Stop trying to argue, Ayaka. You won't be able to have a break during a real fight, and you won't have time to nurse your wounds either."

"But-"

"Do you want to keep your promise or not?"

That one surprised me. "O-of course!"

The silver-haired man met my gaze and held it, his eye stern. "The stop acting like a child and continue your training. Again."

I clenched my fists, but obeyed anyway.

It was mean and wrong of me, but I concentrated all of my frustration and irritation towards Kakashi on Sasuke, fighting him with a renewed vigor and completely ignoring my aching limbs. I could tell he was surprised, especially when he tried to make some distance between us, probably so that he could get a breather himself. At that moment, though, I wasn't having any of that. On instinct I activated Shisen and locked gazes with him, effectively freezing him in place.

Another effect of Shisen was that we could paralyze our opponents, in a sense. It was sort of a fear-based move; there wasn't any real reason for it, but you would begin to feel scared to the point where you couldn't move or break eye contact with the Shisen user. It's a pretty much useless move if you aren't skilled enough with the dojutsu because your opponent will break free from it if his/her will is strong enough, but it can be useful if timed right.

Taking advantage of the short window of time, I closed the distance between us and swiped my legs beneath Sasuke's, knocking him down. I grinned as I pulled out a kunai and held it to his neck to subdue him.

"That's for punching me in the gut, you jerk."

Sasuke turned his head to the side, glaring. "Tch."

I stretched my arms far above my head, sighing contentedly at the feeling of stretching the tired and sore muscles. I put my kunai away and reached a hand down to help the young Uchiha up, furrowing my brow when I realized that he was still glowering, most likely upset that he'd frozen up. The boy turned around and walked over to a water bottle in order to take a few gulps before setting it down. I calmly trailed after him, noting Kakashi's bored gaze as he observed what was going on.

"Oi, Sasuke,"

"What?"

He turned back around only to be met with my finger poking him in between his eyebrows, his brow relaxing as his expression turned into one of surprise. I chuckled. "Don't scowl so much; you're face'll get stuck that way." I poked him again, a grin plastered on my face.

Swiping my hand away, Sasuke gave me a muttered, "Whatever," and strolled back to the middle of the clearing. I just continued to smile.

I made a move to follow after him so that the sparring could continue, but my legs decided they had had enough torment for the day, and promptly gave out on me.

"Ah, they collapsed." I deadpanned, poking at my left leg.

"And you're acting so nonchalant about it?" Kakashi exclaimed before sighing at me. "If your legs were that tired, you should have said something."

My brow twitched in annoyance. "I tried, but _somebody_ wouldn't let me speak. The jerk." I whispered the last part, but I didn't really care if Kakashi did hear me or not. I was too tired.

The jonin let out a sheepish laugh while scratching the back of his head. "Ma, I'll let Sasuke help you get home, then. I'm afraid I have an important meeting to go to. Bye!"

"Wait!"

Too late, the jerk's gone.

I turned my head to meet Sasuke's gaze, smiling shyly. This would be interesting.

* * *

**There we go~! Like I said, there was a bit I wanted to change here and there, but I'm pretty satisfied, I think. Hope ya liked it!**

_**IMPORTANT!**_** Do you guys want me to go all the way with this story? Not just write till Naruto and Ayaka end up together, but write about her part in the rest of the story line? If I do, I'll probably write for this story until the end of the first part of Naruto, and then create a sequel that entails all of Shippuden. Send me a review and tell me what you think! :)**

**Another note!**** Summer vacation is gonna end for me somewhere towards the beginning of August (I think the 4th, but I'm not sure), and that will mean I won't be updating as often. I will try to update as often as I can, though. Perhaps once a week at least? Who knows, but I shall try my best for you guys! I just wanted to give you all a heads up.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! **

**~~ 1000WTBS**


	17. I'm Not Alone

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! **

**Sorry for the wait, but my sister's computer decided to die the other day (right when I had a huge urge to write...), and so she took over my mother's computer, which is the one I use to do everything on. Everything is okay now, though, so now I can update as much as I want~! :D**

**This chapter, I found, was a little difficult to write despite being in the mood to write it. Sasuke is kinda hard for me to write about... I dunno why, but his character was hard. I tried my best, though, so hopefully he isn't too OOC. And don't worry, you guys! Sasuke gets his moment here, but Naruto will get his, too! I figured Sasuke needed a bit of screen time and that he and Ayaka needed to bond some, so my mind conjured this up. I also realize that Ayaka needs to get out and meet the other genin and their senseis, so I shall work on that (I can't wait for her to meet Lee and Gai! X3). I'm also thinking of some bonding time with Sakura... Wah~, so much i want to do!**

**I don't think I've ever given you a full description of Ayaka's appearance, so I'm gonna do that real quick. She has red hair down to her waist with bangs that hang just above her eyes, and it's clean cut. Straight tips and all, no messy bangs or the like. Her eyes are an amber yellow, but when Shisen is activated, they're blood red with specks of fiery orange and with a cat-like pupil in the center. She's about Naruto's height, maybe a little shorter, and she has big hips that she inherited from her mom (and that she was teased about. Perhaps I'll use this later as well~). She wears a long-sleeved fishnet shirt underneath a tank top (spaghetti strap) and wears shorts that stop a few inches above her knees as bottoms. The colors of her clothing change each day, except her shoes and headband (which she ties around her neck), which are blue. I think that's it... Yeah.**

**Heheh, sorry for the long author's note! Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.**

* * *

"Can you stand?"

"I can try…"

Sasuke lent me his hand so I could pull myself, and I did so successfully. Smiling, I went to take a step only to have my legs give out on me again, though Sasuke managed to catch me before I fell to the ground, hooking his arms underneath mine and around my torso. I blushed lightly and steadied myself on my feet, putting a little distance between us.

"Sorry about this," I grinned sheepishly. "But it doesn't look like I can walk on my own."

Sasuke waved it off, putting one of my arms over his shoulder and wrapping an arm around my waist to support me. "It's fine."

We didn't get very far before we discovered that me walking at all was a hassle. Even with Sasuke supporting my weight, I still had trouble walking, stumbling and tripping several times. I could tell Sasuke was starting to get annoyed by my weak legs, and I couldn't help feeling guilty. If I hadn't been so careless, he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of helping me. He probably had better things to do than helping a silly girl get home.

Sasuke separated himself from me, walking in front of me and sighing to himself. I assumed he would keep walking away and tilted my head to the ground. I know it was annoying to have to help me, but was it really that troublesome to put up with me? What a jerk. Is he like this because I finally beat him that _one_ time?

"Oi, guzu*, hurry up."

My face turned a nice shade of pink as I realized Sasuke was kneeling in front of me, waiting for me to climb onto his back. Well, now _I _feel like the jerk. I really should stop making assumptions, shouldn't I?

"S-sorry."

I gingerly placed my arms around the onyx-haired boy's neck, careful not to choke him, and attempted to wrap my legs around his torso. Of course, attempt being the key word. My legs refused to be lifted even that small distance and hung limply against Sasuke's back as he stood up. I felt my face flush when he grabbed my legs and brought them up by his sides, holding them there as he began to walk forward. Why? Why did I have to choose to wear shorts on a daily basis? It's so awkward having his hands touch my bare legs! Oh, if only Kanae were here to see this…

Resting my cheek against Sasuke's warm back, I tried to quell my burning cheeks by thinking of things I needed to do. When I get home, I'll need to soak my legs in warm water to help with the pain, and I'll take some painkillers, too. I'll have to cook myself something for dinner, or I'll go somewhere to eat if I'm still feeling worn out. After that, I'll take a shower or a bath if I don't when I'm soaking my legs. Then I'll get ready for bed, and then the next morning I'll check to see if my legs are steady enough to move around with, and if they are I'll train some more with Kakashi. Oh, but I might have to wait to train until that afternoon because I have to talk to Tsunade about what team I'll be joining and whatever it was that she needed to speak to me about. Naruto wanted me to meet that 'Bushy Brows' person, too… My eyes began to slowly shut as I listened to the steady heartbeat of the boy carrying me. A quick nap wouldn't hurt… Ah, no! Stay awake!

I rapidly blinked my eyes and cleared my throat in attempt to push away the urge to fall asleep. I then silently cursed Sasuke's back for being so very comfortable.

Once you get past the awkward skin-ship, it isn't so bad getting a piggyback ride from Sasuke. He's strong enough to handle my weight, so I don't have to constantly shift around or let him rest, and he doesn't complain about having to carry me. He doesn't talk at all, actually, but that's alright with me. I felt so worn out that I just wanted to fall asleep, and with my relatively comfortable position on his back and the comfortable silence, I really couldn't help the drowsiness that eventually took over.

"Hmph, how predictable."

_Wha…? _My eyes slowly opened, looking around drowsily at my surroundings. Ah, we're home. Oh, the door's open. Wait, how's the door open?

"You should find a better place to hide your house key, boke*."

"Hey, I'm not dumb!" I exclaimed groggily, too tired to really shoot back anything wittier.

"Yet you hide your spare key underneath the doormat." If I could see his face, I knew he would have that signature smug smirk on his face.

Jerk.

"Oh, be quiet," Ah, yes, another wonderful comeback, Ayaka. "And would you mind taking me to the bathroom? I'm going to have to soak my legs."

Sasuke didn't reply, but followed my directions to the bathroom I shared with Kanae, though due to her frequent absence, you couldn't tell she ever used it. There was an obvious lack of messes in the bathroom since I was the only one using it most of the time, and I hated using a dirty bathroom. Messes in bathrooms lead to bugs in the bathroom that like to try to assassinate you at the worse possible times, like during a shower… I nearly shuddered at the memory of a particularly malicious spider launching itself at me while I was washing my hair. Those things seem to really dislike me for some reason…

Sasuke sat me on the edge of the bathtub, gazing at me for a few seconds before opening his mouth. "Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

I smiled brightly, carefully standing up and making my way towards the door. I had forgotten I would need a towel. "Yeah, I'll be fine!"

Then my legs gave out and I face-planted on the tiled floor of the bathroom. "Or not." My muffled voice could be heard just barely.

Sasuke did something I don't think I had ever heard him do. It was weird, but nice to hear. It wasn't mean or mocking, but genuinely amused.

That boy was laughing. Well, more of a chuckle, so less enthusiastic, but still.

My musings soon turned to annoyed thoughts once it dawned upon me that he wasn't just laughing, but he was laughing at _me_ and the fact I had just fallen flat on my face. "Jerk! It's not funny! My face really hurts now…" Half fake and half real tears formed two mini waterfalls on my cheeks as I pushed myself into a sitting position, pulling the sad, kicked-puppy expression that I had used every once in a while on my father to go a little easier on me (Haha, it failed…).

"Hn." He was still smirking, but he stopped his chuckling and picked me up and sat me down on the edge of the bathtub again. I pouted but gave him my thanks before asking him to grab a towel from the linen closet that was to the right of the bathroom. While he did so, I turned the water on, messing with the knobs until the water was at the right temperature. I pushed the plug down on the drain so that the tub could fill up and began unwrapping the bandages around my legs, quickly realizing my mistake when Sasuke came back into the room.

I turned my head to the left and tilted it up, meeting the onyx-haired shinobi's questioning gaze. I sheepishly smiled, giggling nervously.

"I guess I trained a little too hard today! Ah, I really should be more careful."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at me. "Your legs weren't hit enough for you to have bruises like that."

"I'm rather fragile, ya know!"

"No, you're not. Your arms aren't bruised even though you were blocking my hits all day."

Well, crap.

I sighed and finished unwrapping my legs, throwing the bandages onto the floor for the moment. The water was up to my ankles now. "Don't worry about it."

"I _will _worry about it. If you're going to be on our team, then you can't hold us back. That was my condition, remember? If something is wrong with you, you'll end up breaking that condition."

Double crap. He did say that, didn't he? I sighed again, beginning to fidget with the bottom of my purple shorts. "You… you can't say anything about it to the others, okay?"

Sasuke sighed, too, settling himself on the bathtub's edge as well, though his legs were on the outside instead of the inside. "Fine."

"I had a bit of a meltdown, I guess. I was feeling so frustrated, so fed up, so disappointed…" I clenched my hands into fists, clutching my shorts' tightly and staring at my hands intently. I didn't want to meet Sasuke's gaze. "I needed a way to let off all of that anger, so I went to one of the training grounds and," I cleared my throat, feeling embarrassed. "Basically assaulted one of the trees. I was stupid and didn't put any padding on my legs or hands, so I ended up bruising my legs and fracturing one of my legs. That leg is okay now, though - I had a nurse heal it - but I was told to take it easy on my legs. "

"That's why you kept trying to get Kakashi-sensei to give you breaks."

"Yeah."

A silence descended upon us as I watched the water continue to fill the tub. I shut the water off once it was a few inches away from the brim, sighing in content at the heat. The pain was slowly beginning to go away.

"Was it because of your family?"

My head snapped to Sasuke in surprise, eyes slightly wide. Sure, I would expect Kakashi or Naruto to ask me about the reason for my freak out, but I figured Sasuke would just leave it be and accept the fact that I obviously wasn't telling him on purpose. He didn't seem like the type to pry or to comfort you; he seemed like the type to leave you to your business (so long as you didn't slow him down) and let someone else comfort you.

Sasuke's face was completely blank, as usual, but his eyes… His eyes held that sense of understanding in them again. It was odd; had he, too, lost a family member in a similar way? Is that why he always seemed to understand my feelings? I held his gaze for a few moments longer before looking back to the water.

"Yeah."

I saw the Uchiha clan member shift beside me from the corner of my eye. "You feel like even though you're trying your hardest, you aren't getting anywhere. You aren't getting any closer to avenging them. You're frustrated by the weakness that holds you back and that you continually show."

None of it was a question. Not one bit of what Sasuke just said had been a question. All of it was statement because he was sure it was true, but how would he know unless he had gone through the same thing? By what he said, he knows exactly how I feel, so that must mean he _has _gone through a similar hardship, right?

Even though I didn't want to ask him in case it brought up bad memories, my mouth was blurting out the question before I could stop it. "Have you gone through the same thing, Sasuke-kun?"

My eyes searched his, surprised when I found anger clouding over the understanding. His dark eyes were hard now, his brow set in a scowl as he turned his head away from me and glared at the doorway in front of him. For a moment I thought Sasuke was upset with me for asking that question and bringing up memories he wished to forget, but the frustration that pushed its way into his eyes made me realize that it wasn't my question that upset him; Sasuke was feeling the same I was, and he was showing those feelings to me, even if he didn't really want to. He had gone through the same thing I had, or something similar to it. That boy understood me. He knew exactly how I felt.

Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets, dropping his angry gaze to the tiled ground. "Yeah, I have."

I didn't feel so alone anymore.

* * *

**Guzu: Slowpoke, or something to that effect. **

**Boke: knucklehead**

**So, was it at least okay-ish? I'm sorry if I messed Sasuke up... I don't know why I find it so hard to write for his character. .**

**Just so ya know, I _will _continue to write this all the way through Shipuuden, or at least as far as I can go. I've already planned some stuff out and there's a scene I would like to write, heheh...**

**Ayaka: I know that look... It's something romantic or angsty, isn't it? Gosh, how much of that stuff are you gonna write?**

**Well, my dear, this _is _a romance and comfort fanfic, isn't it? So... a ton. :D**

**Ayaka: ...I detest you.**

**Love ya, too!**

_**Notice!**_** Summer vacation is gonna end for me somewhere towards the beginning of August (I think the 4th, but I'm not sure), and that will mean I won't be updating as often. I will try to update as often as I can, though. Perhaps once a week at least? Who knows, but I shall try my best for you guys! I just wanted to give you all a heads up.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! Antio!**

**~~ 1000WTBS**


	18. Bittersweet Hope

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! **

**I'll be gone for maybe ten days or so (possibly less), so I wanted to get this chapter out to you guys. Sorry if it seems rushed or not as well-written as usual; I was in a bit of a hurry since I'm leaving tomorrow. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Has a twist I bet no one saw coming!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.**

* * *

"Nii-chan, Onee-chan's gonna find us, right? She's gonna save us no matter what, right?"

Hardened amber eyes turned away from watching two of the guards drag away a blonde-haired woman and gazed back at the innocence-filled ones that glowed on the other side of a wall of bars that separated brother and sister. The boy's eyes softened at the girl's questions as he slipped his arm between the bars to hold her dainty hand and gave her a reassuring smile. The girl smiled a teary smile in response and scooted closer to the bars in an attempt to be as close to her brother as she could, hating the distance that was forced upon them, and took her brother's free hand into her grasp as well.

"Yeah," The onyx-haired boy blinked away his own tears so that his sister wouldn't see his weakness. One of them had to be strong for the other. "Onee-chan won't give up until she gets us back."

The comforting words quelled the young girl's fear temporarily and allowed her to fall asleep against the cold bars peacefully, trusting her brother's words without hesitance. Her brother sighed, letting a few tears fall once he was sure the she was asleep. Even though he said their older sister would come for them, he couldn't help but doubt his words. How long had it been? Days, weeks, months? They hadn't heard anything from their sister, or any news about her. Did she even know they were alive?

Even with the child in him shouting that she would come for them, he couldn't help the doubt that sprouted from the wiser side's whispers.

~FTBG~

"Tsunade-sama, you-"

"I'm sorry, Ayaka, but I don't have the time. We'll talk later."

The blonde woman rushed out of her office, brushing past me with a look in her eyes I hadn't ever seen before: panic. Dread filled my stomach. What was going on? It had to be pretty bad if it had caused Tsunade to panic.

My mind wasn't allowed to wander, though, because I was soon being ushered out by one of the shinobi that worked there, saying there were urgent matter to attend to and that children needed to get out of the way. Jerk. I'm almost a teenager!

After leaving the building I made my way to Naruto's apartment. He had talked about introducing me to 'Bushy Brows,' and I figured today was as good as any other to do so since I wouldn't be training with Kakashi due to the state of my legs and my meeting with Tsunade had been pushed back to whenever. I was eager to find out who this kid was, anyway, though I was a little embarrassed, too. He had seen me freak out on that tree… I hope he didn't get the wrong idea about me.

"Ah, Ayaka-san! Here to see Naruto again?" The elderly woman that lived in the apartment across from Naruto's had stepped out, a basket in hand and a bright smile on her face.

"Yes, Kishimoto-san. It's nice to see you again!" I grinned back, trying to mask any worry I still held.

"It's nice to see you again, as well! Try to keep that rascal out of trouble, alright?"

Success! I laughed a little and nodded. "I'll try, but no promises. You know how he is…"

The green-eyed woman rolled her eyes. "I wish I didn't," She chuckled and waved as she began to walk away. "Have a good time, now!"

"We will!"

I turned and knocked on Naruto's door, tilting back and forth on my feet while I waited for an answer. When none came, I knocked again, this time louder and for a bit longer. There still wasn't an answer, so I made my knocking a little louder. This continued for a few minutes before I figured that he either wasn't awake or wasn't home, and then I turned to leave, only to nearly have a heart attack.

Naruto was standing right behind me, an evil grin plastered on his face.

"N-Naruto," I attempted to catch my breath as I clutched at my racing heart. "You…You…" I tilted my head down, my bangs shield my eyes.

"S-Sorry, Ayaka-chan! I didn't mean to-"

"You jerk!" I smacked the back of his head, scowling. "You nearly killed me! Or yourself! What if I acted on instinct and stabbed you or something? Jerk…"

The blonde-haired boy clutched his head as little waterfalls poured from his eyes. "Sorry, Ayaka-chan~! It was just such a good opportunity…"

I sighed, looking away with a slight blush on my cheeks. He looked kind of adorable right now. "I know… it was a pretty good scare, I'll give you that." The smile that blossomed on his face made my blush deepen, so I quickly walked around him, clearing my throat. "Anyways, you wanted to introduce me to 'Bushy Brows,' remember? I'm ready if you are."

"Yeah, let's go!"

~FTBG~

"We're here to see Bush- ah, Rock Lee." Naruto informed the nurse, grinning sheepishly at his mistake. Ah, so this guy's actual name is Lee.

"You're lucky, visiting hours just started. You can go on."

"Thanks!" Naruto then proceeded to grab my wrist and drag me down one of the hallways, excitement clear on his features.

I expected to be led to some random house or apartment building, but we ended up in front of the hospital, which was surprising. I hope Lee isn't hurt too badly.

"Oi! Bushy Brows! I want you to meet- Ah, where'd he go?"

Lee wasn't in his room, though the sheets on the mattress were messed up as if someone had been in the bed recently. While Naruto searched the room, I went to the window, gazing out to see if he was outside, and there he was, sitting on a bench with crutches (that I assumed to be his) lay next to him.

Lee currently wore hospital clothing rather than the green jumpsuit Naruto told me he was famous for wearing (matching one of the sensei's, too). His hair was black and cut in a bowl cut, which I usually hate on people and had expected to hate on him, but he somehow managed to pull it off. From what I could tell, he looked to be a good bit taller than me, too. He looked nice enough.

"Naruto, that's him out there, isn't it?"

Naruto walked over to the window where I was pointing down at the thirteen-year-old. "Yeah! Come on, Ayaka-chan!"

Then I was dragged by the wrist. Again. Naruto _really_ needs to stop doing that. I feel like my wrist is going to end up breaking from all the tugging.

"Bushy Brows!"

Lee turned his head to us, smiling when he recognized Naruto. "Naruto-kun, it is nice to see you again."

"Same here!" Naruto grinned and pushed me forward.

Jerk. I was hiding behind you for a reason, you know.

"This is Ayaka! She's that girl you saw beating up that tree,"

I promptly elbowed Naruto in the stomach, maintaining a polite smile on my face as I spoke to Lee. "It's nice to meet you, Lee-kun. I'm sorry you had to see me like that, by the way. I had some steam I needed to let off." I stopped myself from smirking when I heard Naruto whine about abusing him so much lately. Well, don't do things that cause the physical harm!

"It is alright," Lee smiled. "I understand. I, too, have taken my frustration out on trees in the past."

Phew. I was scared he would take me as some psycho girl.

_"Psycho girl! Stay away from us! Nooooooo!"_

I winced at the memory that tried to push its way through. No, not right now.

Giggles could be heard as Kazuya and Kazumi evaded their sister's grasp once again. "Can't get us, Psycho Girl!"

Couldn't save you either.

"Ayaka-san?"

"Oh, sorry. Just remembering something. What was it you asked?"

Naruto glanced at me and I knew that he knew what just happened. How is it he's so observant on that, yet he can be so oblivious to everything else? "I wanted to know how you liked it here in Konoha. I heard you moved here recently."

"Ah, well, it's nice…"

I wasn't going to let on that my heart had begun to ache all over again.

~FTBG~

Our laughter was loud and boisterous in the hospital room as I told the two boys some of the misadventures I had had with Kazuya and Kazumi. Naruto, with those big blue eyes of his, had somehow managed to convince me to open up a little and talk about my family. It was hard to at first, but then it started to get easier and I soon didn't need any encouragement from Naruto. I was currently telling them about Kazuya's little stunt with the fireballs inside the house.

My eye twitched as I remembered my poor hair getting singed by the fire. I had to cut it a whole inch! "The little runt decided it was funny to-"

A puff of smoke interrupted me, leaving a brunette kunoichi with teal eyes standing in its place once it dissipated. She made eye contact with me and bowed slightly.

"Tsunade-sama wishes to see you now, Shizuka-san."

I sobered up pretty quick once she said that. "Yes, ma'am. I'll head over there now."

She nodded and left the same way she came, in a puff of smoke.

"Sorry, you guys, but I've gotta go. The Fifth wanted to speak to me about something." I smiled apologetically, snagging quick hugs from the two boys before rushing out of the room. "Hope you feel better, Lee-kun, and I'll see you two later!"

I ran as fast as my legs would allow me to in their state, anxious to see Tsunade. What happened this morning that caused her to turn me away at first? What did she want to speak to me about in the first place? Would she tell me what happened if I asked?

I knocked on her door a few times, an immediate "Come in," following. I opened the door and walked in, coming to stand in front of her. The Sannin looked drained, worn down, and worried, though she quickly masked it.

"Tsunade-sama…" I trailed off, gripping the hem of my navy blue shorts. "Is everything okay?"

Her eyes seemed to cloud over with an emotion, but before I could make it out, it was gone. She sighed. "I wouldn't say 'okay,' but it's manageable. I apologize for having to postpone our meeting, but something came up."

"I'm sorry if it's out of line to ask, but what happened this morning? You looked worried."

She didn't answer me at first. The Hokage just remained silent, seeming to contemplate whether or not she should tell me what happened. When she did tell me, I almost didn't believe her.

"Kanae came back to us in critical condition, and I had to treat her. She's lucky, though; about a month or so in the hospital and she should be fine."

My mouth parted slightly in surprise. Kanae was an ANBU ranked kunoichi, wasn't she? What was she doing on her last mission that put her in that state? "How…?"

Another sigh escaped the blonde's lips. "You need to know a few things before I tell you what happened to her."

I nodded. Though all I wanted to do right then was to run back to the hospital to see Kanae, I would listen because it was obviously important and related to what happened to my guardian.

"For starters, you're what your clan has labeled as a 'host.'

"A host? For what? Do you mean like a host for a show?"

Tsunade gave a sigh (that seemed annoyed, if you ask me), crossing her arms but keeping eye contact with me. "You're a host for your clan's creator, the first Shizuka to exist."

I furrowed my brow in confusion and disbelief. "So he can use my body? But how? That can't be possible!"

"_She _can, and it _is _possible."

"How?" There wasn't anyway, was there? I mean, this is bringing back the dead!

The blonde woman sighed again. "The woman who began your clan was Shizuka Kiyohime. She, too, had red hair and amber eyes, but the man whose child she bore had black hair, and in the end most members ended up with black hair and amber eyes. Clan members figured that whenever a child was born with red hair, that the child had genes that were closest to Kiyohime's. Later on, children born with red hair were considered hosts.

"Kiyohime's spirit can be summoned and transferred through a jutsu that was created by a clan member in hopes of gaining aid in an old skirmish. For the jutsu you need a clan member who holds her genes, and certain conditions must be met. The host's body cannot be sickly, there cannot be anything already sealed within the host, and the host must choose to give up his or her body. If the host does not wish to give up his or her body, then Kiyohime will not be able to take over permanently, though she can share the body with the host. This requires a seal.

"Now," Tsunade rested her elbows upon her desk and entwined her fingers, her face solemn. "Giving up your body doesn't necessarily mean you say, "Yes, I will give up my body." Giving up your body can translate to wishing to be dead, not having the will to live anymore. In the past, clan members were known to be cruel and hateful to hosts so that, if the time ever came, they would be able to summon Kiyohime successfully."

I scowled. Seriously? What kinds of people do such a thing? And did no one try to stop it? "No one tried to stop it?"

"No, the Third banned this jutsu after finding out about the ruthless treatment of the hosts. And just like your clan, the jutsu became a forgotten memory, a mere folktale to tell young kids, especially after the Shizuka clan left Konoha. There aren't many who know about it now."

"Then why are you telling me th-" My eyes widened in realization. No way. No… That's why… _That's why…_

It all made sense now.

Orochimaru didn't want me for my kekka genkai; he could probably care less about that. What made me so special, what made him want me so bad, was what I was. I was a host for a spirit that created my clan, who knew every technique we could use, and I had no doubt that she knew several rare jutsu. She knew secrets about Shisen that no one else knew. Kiyohime held knowledge that Orochimaru wanted.

Everything seemed so crystal clear now. Why else would he kill my family? If he had wanted me to come to him, he wouldn't have killed them, but maybe threatened them. It hadn't made sense before that he would have them murdered. Now… now I understood.

My father… That's why he was always so adamant about not showing my true feelings, even in daily life. Because of what I was, he didn't want me to make myself vulnerable; he was only trying to protect me. I argued with him, even broke down and yelled at him, yet he never told me why he was so stubborn about his teachings. _Otou-san,_ I closed my eyes briefly. _I'm so sorry for giving you so much grief._

"Orochimaru most likely managed to find out about the jutsu, which would have been a feat in itself. I only know about it because of the scrolls we recovered from your home." Tsunade placed three scrolls on her desk. One was rather large, while the other two were relatively small. "You may take these two," She held up one of the smaller scrolls and the larger one. "But the last one must remain here."

Taking the scrolls from her outstretched hand, I smiled politely in thanks. "Thank you, but may I ask why the third must stay here?"

"It contains the instructions for the jutsu and the seal. It isn't safe to have this sort of information out in the open."

I nodded. "What do the other scrolls contain?"

"The larger of the two tells the history of Kiyohime and the jutsu."

"The other?"

"The other seems to be a journal entry written by your father."

Well then. I certainly didn't expect that. My dad kept journal entries? It didn't seem like something he would do; then again, he did like to keep records.

"Kanae was investigating to see if Orochimaru was after you for Kiyohime's spirit. She," The Sannin hesitated for a split second before continuing on, finalizing her decision. "She was also ordered, if she was confident that she could succeed and that they would be there, to infiltrate any of Orochimaru's bases and rescue Shizuka Kazuya and Kazumi, your siblings."

The silence that erupted in the room was deafening. Did she… Did she just say Kanae was ordered to rescue my siblings? But they're dead… I saw them die! They… They dropped dead right in front of me…

_"Already dead? Gosh, they were weaker than I thought."_

I shook my head, trying to will the memory away, and met Tsunade's gaze. "What are you talking about? They died right in front of me, and their bodies were buried not too long ago."

"And I apologize for not telling you this sooner, but we never recovered your siblings' bodies. When they weren't found, I had some people look into it, and we found out from some of our informants that there was a good chance that they were still alive. Searching for them was Kanae's original task and finding information on Orochimaru's intentions was added on to that. Her task is the reason she is in the state she is in right now."

Hope and relief quickly blossomed in my chest despite the news of Kanae's injuries. They were alive! My mischievous, silly siblings were alive! They were okay! I could see them again, I could hug them again. They'd tease me about my hair, and I'd chase them around the village for doing so. Things would be okay.

Just as soon as the hope and relief and taken hold of my heart, the dread settled itself in my stomach. If Kanae had rescued them, why weren't they here?

"Though Kanae managed to find their location, her attempt to rescue them failed. I'm deeply sorry, Ayaka."

"But we can still go after them, right? I could-"

"I can't send you on any missions pertaining to them."

I scowled before catching myself and erasing any expression from my face. "Why? No one else knows them. I can easily tell if it's really them or not, and it-"

"Because this is exactly what he wants!"

For the first time Tsunade raised her voice at me.

"If taking away your will to live by assassinating your family didn't work, then holding your siblings hostage and forcing you to do what he wants will. Orochimaru isn't stupid; he's clever, and he doesn't do anything without a purpose for doing it. Your siblings most likely were given drugs to make it appear as if they had died, but then were taken so that they could later be used against you. If I allow you to go, then we would be doing exactly what Orochimaru wants."

"But they're my _family_. I can't just abandon them!"

"Think logically, Ayaka. At your level you wouldn't be able to do much. You're only a genin, and you've yet to reach your normal level of ability, correct?" I nodded, my jaw clenched. It was true. "Orochimaru may not know that we found out about your siblings. We can use this to our advantage by keeping tabs on them. If you want to be there to save them so badly, then use this time to get stronger. Until I think you're ready, I won't let you anywhere near missions pertaining to your siblings or Orochimaru. It's too dangerous."

"I understand, Tsunade-sama." I bowed deeply to her. Even if I felt frustrated right now, I was extremely thankful for the information she had given me. "There's just one more thing I would like to ask you, though."

Leaning her cheek upon her hand, she sighed once more (she seems to have done that a lot today). "Yes?"

"I would like to join Team Seven."

* * *

**Oh, I feel so evil! I hated doing this to Ayaka, but at the same time it's a good thing for her because now she might get her siblings back! I just feel bad that I had to put them in Orochimaru's clutches...**

**So sorry if Tsunade was OOC at all; once again a character I find a little hard to write for (even more so because I was in a rush). I tried my best though!**

_**Notice!**_** Summer vacation is gonna end for me somewhere towards the beginning of August (I think the 4th, but I'm not sure), and that will mean I won't be updating as often. I will try to update as often as I can, though. Perhaps once a week at least? Who knows, but I shall try my best for you guys! I just wanted to give you all a heads up.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! Till next time~!**

**~~ 1000WTBS**


	19. Can She Move On?

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, reading, favoriting, and alerting! Much thanks to you all! **

**Oh my gosh I feel horrible for making you guys wait for so long! This chapter is WAY overdue, and I'm sorry because it isn't that long of a chapter, nor is it the best in the world. It does have some important stuff in it, though. Either way I really hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the places, characters, or else in this story. I merely own Ayaka, her family, Kanae, and any kekkai genkai and jutsu that I have conjured up from my mind.**

* * *

The red-headed Shizuka bowed, eyes hinting at her disappointment and frustration, and left the Hokage's office, feeling upset and confused at the blonde woman's answer to her request. It was a perfectly logical choice to place her on team seven; she knew them best, worked well with them, and had already become accustomed to each member's fighting style. What was there to consider? What about Ayaka made the decision so hard? Was it because of she still wasn't back to her old level of skill?

Tsunade sighed for what seemed to be the millionth time that day, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. That child could be so difficult. At first she refused to show any true emotion, and now it seemed like she allowed the emotion to control her. There needed to be a medium. She couldn't keep switching back and forth; Ayaka would only end up hurting herself again.

"Tsunade-sama, you're hesitating with her placement on team seven," Shizune paused, considering her words. "Because you're still worried about her mental condition?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," The honey-brown-eyed woman stretched her arms over her head before reaching for some papers that laid on her desk. "She doesn't seem to be as bad as before because she now accepts the memories, but her recent behavior worries me. There are reports that she had a melt down not too long ago," Tsunade signed one of the papers and placed it on a stack to her left. "That ended in severe bruising on her legs and hands and a fractured tibia. Prior to that she was yelling, though it was in the privacy of her home. Her neighbors say that she sounded angry, which, in most cases, I would look past. Anger can be handled easily through counseling,"

Shizune, Ton Ton safely in her arms, met Tsunade's eyes. "There's something else that concerns you."

The Sannin nodded. "Her neighbors also say that she sounded broken, like there was an unbearable grief crushing her. Anger is easy enough to handle, but grief is another thing. Anger can cloud one's judgment, but grief affects every aspect of a person's life." Her eyes clouded over as she recalled her own run-ins with grief. "I'm not sure if that girl is ready to be a fully fledged kunoichi. I don't want to assign her to a team when her emotions could get in the way of a mission and end up endangering her teammates."

"What are you planning to do?"

Closing her eyes, Tsunade entwined her hands and rested her elbows on her desk. "I plan to test her. If Ayaka can complete the task I give her without allowing her emotions to take control, then I'll put her on team seven. If she ends up failing…"

_"I think she resents herself for acting weakly, but can it really be helped? She lost her whole family; it's only natural." Kanae frowned, brow furrowed in concern. "However, this sorrow Ayaka's been faced with… Can she recover from it? It really does affect her deeply, even if she tries to hide it."_

"Then she'll have to wait to be placed on a team until she can get a grip on her feelings."

**_~FTBG~_**

_"Onee-chan! Help! Please," Large, doe-like amber eyes gazed up in desperation. Tears streamed down cheeks still ridden with baby fat, staining the skin with the salty water. A sob shook the small boy's frame as he clutched his sister to his chest._

_"Help us!"_

Ayaka shot up, wincing when the action emphasized the pain in her head. Birds chirped, bees buzzed, and squirrels chattered, all wide awake and comfortable in the sunny afternoon. The redhead rubbed her head and shook herself in an attempt to dismiss the dream, grasping a fistful of grass tightly. Did her mind hate her? Now that she knew her siblings were alive, her dreams alternated between witnessing her parents' deaths and her younger brother and sister pleading with her to save them. Sometimes she dreamed that her siblings had given up on her saving them and had begun to resent, even _hate_, her. The dreams did nothing but cause her to feel beyond depressed every time she woke up, be it in the morning or in the middle of the day. Ayaka was sure that her friends would pick up on it soon if she didn't start masking her emotions better.

After sitting there and dwelling on her dream in gloomy silence, she rubbed her head one more time and pushed herself up to stand, stretching her arms and legs adequately enough so that she could get back to training. She slowly breathed in and out in preparation for her jutsu before forming several hand signs.

Water quickly formed a blade-like casing around her right hand, freezing soon after and causing a slight smile to grace the kunoichi's lips. After swinging her hand-turned-weapon around a few times, Ayaka began to attack in a similar manner as she did with water claw, the motions smooth and flowing, though this time there was more force and the dance was slower, were as before the attacks were faster and more precise. _I have to say… I think I still prefer water claw. This blade is kind of chunky, and it's a lot harder to maintain the water's frozen state. Water claw is so much faster. _Sweat began to drip down the teen's forehead, causing her bangs to stick to her skin and a grimace to form on Ayaka's previously blank face. _Yuck._

_"Ewwwwww! Don't hug me, Onee-chan! You're all sweaty!"_

_"But I love you so much, Kazumi~!"_

_"Aw, you got your sweat on me! Yuck!"_

_"**Tch. Your ditzy mother, your idiot father, and your snot-nosed siblings…" The woman smirked. "are trash."**_

Her concentration immediately broke, the water melting and splashing onto the forest floor as her foot twisted the wrong way and flung her to the ground, face first. Ayaka just laid there for a while, cursing at herself. _What is _wrong _with me? I know they're not dead; they're alive, and I have the chance to save them, so why can't I get past these stupid memories?_ Her eyes began to tear up but she propped herself up on one elbow and hastily wiped any traces of tears away from her eyes. Not wasting another moment, Ayaka then proceeded to throw herself into her training, not giving her mind a moment to think about anything but the techniques.

A certain silver-haired shinobi sighed and shook his head as he watched the young girl perform jutsu after jutsu with bored eyes. _She's going to end up collapsing at this rate. _Pulling his usual novel out to read while he waited for Ayaka to either quit or pass out, Kakashi sat down on the tree branch and leaned against the trunk of the tree whose leaves hid him from view. Cheeks dusted with a light blush from reading a particularly steamy moment, Kakashi took a quick glance down at the redhead who had once again lost control of her ice blade and then went back to his novel, noting the increasing aura of frustration surrounding her. _Maa, this isn't going to end well for her._

To give Ayaka credit, she _did _last another hour or so before she finally voiced her frustration.

The jonin jumped in startled surprise as a heated yell followed by a thump resounded in the air. He brought his gaze to rest on Ayaka whose fist had connected to a tree, the force causing the wood to break off in large splinters. Her chest heaved up and down from training nonstop, and her eyes glared icily at the ground. The look on Ayaka's face and her demeanor surprised Kakashi; never had he seen her get angry like this, but most of all, never had he seen her look so _lost._

"What's _wrong_ with me? I've accepted the memories, I know those two are alive, I know there's a chance to save them, and I've been training like crazy," The tears Ayaka had come to hate so much began to run down her cheeks. "So why am I not getting any better?"

Kakashi's face softened. So that's what it was: she was frustrated that she couldn't seem to move on even though she thought she was ready to. _Probably still feeling guilty about her siblings._

Minutes passed and eventually Ayaka plopped herself onto the ground, propping herself against the tree and leaning her head back, eyes closed in an attempt to shut everything out. She didn't understand what it was that was holding her back. Well, the memories, of course, but she didn't understand _why _they still held her back. She'd accepted them, didn't block them out like before, yet they still haunted her. Despite all this time and all the promises she's made to herself and others, they still brought on bouts of depression that were hard to get out of. Ayaka was sick of it. She was sick of being so weak.

"A-Ayaka-chan?"

Amber eyes opened and shifted to the right to meet shy milky lavender ones. A smile that didn't quite reach those amber eyes appeared on Ayaka's face. "Hey, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata returned her smile. "H-hey. Are y-you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I've been out here since seven…"

Kakashi watched as Ayaka put on a happy façade and began to joke around with Hinata, effectively hiding her previous feelings. When had she become so talented in hiding how she felt? Just the other day Kakashi was able to easily see through her acting, but now it seemed like she was genuinely happy. Maybe she was getting used to covering up her emotions.

Figuring he had observed her long enough, Kakashi put away Icha Icha Paradise and moved a little ways away from where Ayaka was before using a transportation jutsu to get him to the memorial stone. He had about an hour or so left to kill before the Hokage would be expecting him, though he very well knew that an hour would easily turn into two or even three. The silver-haired jonin didn't really care about being late anymore; it was routine now.

Amber eyes darted to the right briefly, feeling a brief pulse of a familiar chakra, but went back to concentrate on the girl who was explaining the plot of a book she had recently finished. Ayaka smiled and nodded, deciding to ignore the fact someone she knew had more than likely watching her; it wasn't like she could do anything about it now.

"Ah, Hinata-chan," Ayaka glanced up at the sky, noting the darkening hue.

"Y-yes, Ayaka-chan?"

"It's starting to get dark,"

Hinata, too, glanced up at the sky. "Oh, i-it is."

"Was there something you came here to do? I hope I didn't keep you from it."

"I-I just wanted to s-see you. You h-haven't been around th-the compound l-lately."

The redhead's expression turned guilty. "Sorry, Hinata-chan. I've been a bit busy and all…"

Hinata nodded, giving a small smile to her friend. She knew how hard Ayaka was trying to deal with her loss. "I-it's alright."

"Would you like to go grab something to eat with me? I can tell you about this new novel I got the other day; it is _so _good!"

The onyx-haired kunoichi's smile grew. "Sure."

* * *

**Bwaah, I hope it was enjoyable for you guys! Sorry again for taking so long in updating! **

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! Till next time~!**

**~~ 1000WTBS**


End file.
